Jake in the Huntsclan
by DYlogger
Summary: After the battle at the Homecoming Dance, Jake and Rose go their separate ways. Jake continues his double life while Rose stays in the Huntsclan. One day, Jake discovers a dragon-shaped birthmark of his own... AU COMPLETE! Jake/Rose
1. Prologue

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

By: DYlogger

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot; do I LOOK like I own anything? No Copyright Infringement intended.

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Prologue

_New York, Fillmore Middle School- 09:00 p.m._

Jake grimaced as Rose struck her huntstaff at him. It was the night of the Homecoming dance, but thanks to the Huntsclan, Jake was stuck with his sister Haley, his grandfather Lao Shi, and his home ec teacher, Sun Park fighting on the school roof. The Huntsclan had despised dragons for centuries, yet they had always been there, never stopped. Tonight was supposed to be the battle that finished the Huntsmaster, or so Jake thought. Instead he was dueling with Huntsgirl, the girl that Jake had fallen for. She had betrayed the dragons that week to the Huntsclan.

Suddenly, Jake hit the wall with tremendous speed. He fell to the ground with a thud, and fainted.

Rose was born to be a slayer. She didn't think that she was born to be a slayer of dragons, but she was born to be a slayer. The Huntsclan had taken her from her parents when she was born, and dubbed her Huntsgirl. Now she was here, sparring with the boy of her dreams, just to keep her parents safe. She sighed as she hit the American Dragon, Jake Long, with a beam of energy. He flew back through the air and hit a wall. He fell to the ground. He was slain. They were all slain. Or were they?

"They are slain, Master," crowed Huntsgirl, "every dragon here. And the two humans."

"Well done, Huntsgirl. But when we get back to the Huntslair, we must speak of your loyalties," replied the Huntsmaster.

"Yes Master," Rose agreed.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, New York division- 11:00 p.m._

"You did well tonight, Huntsgirl. And you will continue to faithfully serve the Huntsclan if you wish to keep your parents alive!" roared the Huntsmaster.

"Of course. You know very well that my loyalty lies here, in the Huntsclan," said Rose.

"Very well then. To prove your faith, I have one more test. You will tell me the human identity of the American Dragon."

"Master, the dragons did not trust me much when I pretended to be in league with them. I have not seen the identity of any of the dragons, save Lao Shi and Sun Park," lied Rose. She knew the American Dragon, Jake Long, and his sister, Haley Long, very well, but she did not want anyone else in the Huntsclan to know them. She still was on the side of the dragons, but she couldn't let Huntsmaster know. Unfortunately, the dragons didn't know either.

"You do not?" asked the Master with a raised eyebrow, "well, no matter. They are dead. But, I must take all your communication devices with the exception of your Huntstaff. But I will disable your Huntstaff teleportation device. You will work hard to regain that privilege." Huntsmaster winked and smiled under his mask. "Now hand over your dream charm." Rose did so. "Dismissed, Huntsgirl."

Rose walked up to her quarters for a night's sleep. She lay in her bed thinking of the day's events. She willed herself to relax. After what seemed like hours, the blackness of sleep took over.

_New York, Long Resistance- 11:00 p.m._

"I still can't believe she would do such a thing," mused Jake Long.

Jake, Haley, their grandfather, Sun, Trixie, and Spud were gathered in the Long's living room discussing the betrayal of Rose for the past half hour. None of them had died, they were just unconscious. Haley was the first to wake up, and now they were here, talking about the day's events, and Rose. She wasn't even Rose anymore, she was just Huntsgirl now.

"I knew you shouldn't have trusted her, Jakie," said Trixie, "that girl is trouble."

"Maybe you're right," sighed Jake, "I'm going to go sleep on it. Maybe I'll confront her in her dreams. I'm almost sure that her Huntsmaster took away her dream charm when he suspected she was helping us." Jake grinned.

"Yeah, Trix and I have to go home," agreed Spud. And with that, everybody but Jake and Haley left the house.

Up in Jake's room, Jake paced around wondering about Huntsgirl. _Maybe she is really on our side_, thought Jake. He decided the only way to get some answers was to go to sleep. When he finally laid in bed, he was pooped. He fell asleep immediately.

_The Dream Realm Corridors_

Jake willed himself to appear in the Dream Corridors He walked around until he found Rose's door. He was surprised that the Huntsclan had let her sleep so early, but it was the Huntsclan. They were full of surprises. He entered her door, and gasped at what he saw inside. She was dreaming of a Huntslair, and she was destroying it. Huntsmen lay dead at her feet, and she continued to shoot green energy beams from her Huntstaff. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"You know the Huntsbow would be so much more effective, _Huntsgirl_" smirked Jake.

"Jake! What are you doing here in my dream? And why aren't you dead?" cried Rose.

"I'm not dead because you never killed me, _Huntsgirl_. And I'm here because we need to talk," answered Jake.

"But I saw you die! Huntsmaster saw you die!"

"Are you implying that you want me dead? I just fainted, that's all. And so did the others."

"No, of course I don't want you, or anyone else, dead. I know you think I betrayed you guys, but that's not the case. They were threatening with my parents' lives, Jake!"

"Then why didn't you come to me?" inquired Jake, "why didn't you call or something?"

"The Huntsmaster took away all my communication devices, including my dream charm. Except the Huntstaff communicator, which I was allowed to keep, but I can't contact you with it. He also took my teleporter," replied Rose.

"Teleporter?"asked Jake.

"Teleportation device. You know, the one that allows me to transport wherever..." her voice trailed off.

"Huntsgirl-"

"Rose."

"Fine, _Rose_, we're all safe, but now we're back at square one. You're the spy in the Huntsmen, and I'm the person stopping the Huntsclan from doing what's wrong. Except now they know who Haley and I are!"

"Actually, they don't. They never saw you," said Rose with a smirk.

"That's great, I guess. I have to go and tell the others. Good luck in the Huntsclan."

"Thanks."

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	2. Birthmark

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: I'm going to mix and remix some of the aspects in this universe. The prologue was to set the base of the setting. The real story starts now, six years after Jake has last seen Rose…

A/N (2): When I say New York, I mean the state, not the city. When I say New York City, I mean the city. I know Jake's family lives in New York City, New York, but for now I'm just mentioning the state.

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Chapter 1- Birthmark

_**Six Years Later**_

_New York, Long Resistance- 06:30 a.m._

Nineteen year old Jake Long got out of bed. He had just graduated out of high school a few weeks ago, and it was the first day of summer vacation. He was an early riser, just like his thirteen year old sister, Haley Long. In fact, Jake had gotten his habits of rising early from his sister. He yawned and stretched, then sent for the bathroom. It was occupied.

"Haley! How long have you been in there?" asked Jake, knocking.

"It's me, Jakeroo," said Jake's father, Jonathon Long.

"Oh, okay," replied Jake, " I'll wait."

Twenty minutes later, Jonathon was out of the bathroom and Jake was in there. He had just finished his shower when he heard a knock on the door.

"What, Haley?" groaned Jake, annoyed.

"Hurry up in there, Jake," complained Haley, "we have to meet the Council in ninety minutes. And you and Fu have to take me there."

"Right," replied Jake.

"I wish I had never taught you to wake up this early," sighed Haley.

_Draco Island- 08:40 a.m._

The American Dragon and his sister were meeting the Dragon Council for business. Actually, they were there because Lao Shi had died and both Jake and Haley had to learn about their grandfather's magical possessions. The "business" was just a cover story.

Jake and Haley had both inherited Lao Shi's electronics shop. They decided to split the inheritance two ways, so that Haley got the shop, and Jake got the magical items in it. Fu was going to be their magical guardian.

Jake was worried that he was going to need another dragon master. But since Jake was nineteen, the dragon council agreed to let Jake be a full- time dragon, one that doesn't need a master.

_New York- Long Resistance- 12:00 p.m._

Jake was packing his clothes for a family trip to a beach resort. His father insisted that they needed this family bonding time together, so they were going on vacation. Trixie and Spud were going to take care of Fu while the Longs were gone. Jake decided to change out of his formal clothes into something more comfortable. He picked out a white t- shirt and a pair of shorts. As he was changing, he noticed something different about his left ankle and gasped.

He saw his birthmark. It had always been there, but it was just a fuzzy blur that was coiled around his leg. Now the blur was clearer, and definitely resembled a dragon. He didn't notice it this morning in the shower, but he had noticed it becoming less fuzzy in the past few weeks. The boy dragon groaned. How was he going to hide this from his family, especially his father? Having a dragon birthmark meant being part of the Huntsclan, a group of slayers that sought to destroy all magical creatures. But he was a dragon, so he couldn't slay his own kind. They once had an infiltrator in the Huntsclan, Rose, or Huntsgirl, with a dragon birthmark on her wrist, but Jake hadn't seen or spoken with her for six years. He frequently tried to contact her with his dream charm, but she was never asleep when he was. She was still alive, he could tell by going into the Huntsmaster's subconscious, but the Huntsmaster purposely kept all Huntsclan activities nightly. And when the dragons patrolled New York City at night, they never saw Huntsgirl with the Huntsmen. The Huntsclan usually took newborn babies with the dragon mark from their families, but Jake didn't have the mark when he was born. He couldn't let anyone find out, or the Huntsclan would take him. He had to keep this off all telecommunication units, which meant never speaking of this on the phone or the Internet because the Huntsclan patrolled it.

He grabbed a pair of socks from his sock drawer, and a jar of magical spray that would cover the birthmark. Put the socks on with a pair of sneakers, and packed the spray in case he wanted to wear sandals. The American Dragon was ready to go on vacation.

_New York, Beach Paradise resort- 09:00 p.m._

"We're here, familia!" exclaimed Jonathon.

"That's great, honey," yawned Susan Long, the mother of Jake and Haley, "but I'm really tired after the eight hour long drive, so I'm going to check us in, then go to bed. I suggest you do the same."

"Mom's right," said Haley, "we do need the sleep."

"Okay," Jake gave in.

"But-" complained Jonathon.

"Oh, give it a rest, will you, honey?" interrupted Susan.

Jonathon groaned, "Fine."

The next day, everyone in the family was up by 7:20 in the morning and arguing over what to do. All four people wanted to go swimming, but the males wanted to go to the beach and the females wanted to go to the indoor swimming pool. In truth, Jake just wanted to get away from the chlorine and fluorine in the pool because it acted against the magic powder, but he couldn't say that. And when everyone agreed on a compromise to go to the pool in the morning and the beach in the afternoon, he knew he couldn't argue. He just hoped no one would notice his dragon- shaped birthmark…

_New York, Beach Paradise Resort Indoor Pool- 9:00 a.m._

Jake and his family were at the pool. Everything there was quiet and serene, and painted a rainbow of colours. Jonathon was already in the pool when Jake stepped in and Susan cried out,"Wait! I forgot something! Haley, come back to the suite with me to get it." Susan grabbed Haley and they went up to the suite.

The water was fairly warm when Jake submerged himself in it. That was when he used the Eye of the Dragon to see underwater, and saw his father underwater with a pair of goggles looking towards Jake's ankles. _So much for no one noticing_, thought Jake.

Jake resurfaced, and a few moments later, so did his father. "Why didn't you tell me that your birthmark had become less fuzzy?"asked Jonathon, "and it's in the shape of a dragon, too! How cool is that? I have to tell your mother and Haley right now. I'll call our suite right now."

"But- wait- no!" spluttered Jake. His father didn't notice. Jonathon plopped himself out of the water and reached for the cell phone.

_New York, Beach Paradise Resort, Long suite- 9:15 a.m._

Susan Long opened the door as the suite phone rang. She walked over to the phone and picked it up, "Hello?"

"Susan, you'll never believe this. Jake's birthmark finally cleared out!" came Jonathon's voice from the other end.

"Erm, how nice, honey," said Susan.

"And you'll never guess what it looks like! A dragon," he exclaimed, not waiting for her to guess.

Susan laughed shakily, "A dragon, huh? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" cried Jonathon, "A dragon, curled around his ankle! Wings and everything!"

_Uh- oh_, thought Susan. If there actually was a dragon mark on Jake, it would mean the Huntsclan would come kidnap Jake within the next fifteen minutes. If not, they would still come, but for nothing. They were always patrolling telephone conversations, and saying someone had a dragon mark meant a lot.

"That's great!" claimed Susan. _Not_. And hung up.

"Haley, get ready to fight! Your brother has a dragon birthmark, and the Huntsmen will be down by the pool any minute now!" ordered Susan.

"He has a what? And why didn't we see it before?" asked the American Dragon's sister.

"A dragon birthmark, Haley. I don't know. Maybe your dad is just exaggerating, but we have to get down there! NOW!"

Huntsclan telecommunications patrol

"Jake's birthmark finally cleared out!" came a man's voice.

"Erm, how nice, honey," replied a woman's voice.

"And you'll never guess what it looks like! A dragon!" continued the man.

That got the attention of everyone in the room. The machine was built to pick up on various key words and structures. Hearing this coversation, everyone in the facility perked up their ears. They tracked down the phone conversation to a beach resort in Manhattan, New York.

"We may have a new trainee," said one man.

They sent out a few field Huntsmen to take the person with the birthmark. After that, everything in the room calmed down again.

_New York, Beach Paradise Resort Indoor Pool- 9:25 a.m._

Haley and Susan rushed down to the pool as fast as they could, but Jake was already being dragged away by Huntsmen. _Oh no, he actually does have a dragon mark_, thought Susan distressedly. When the ninja- like adults weren't looking, Haley turned into her dragon form.

"Dragon up!" said Haley.

Two of the men noticed her flying toward them. They fought her dragon form off easily. She was larger now than she was when she was eight, but she was still getting used to her new dragon size that she had just molted into a a month ago. Her scales were dark pink and her wings were curved. Her underbelly was light pink. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail even in her dragon form.

"What the-" started Jonathon, but was interrupted when Haley landed. The Huntsmen dragged Jake, who couldn't turn into a dragon for fear of risking his identity, out the window they crashed in.

Jonathon crossed his arms, "Okay, someone tell me what's going on," he demanded.

_Lair of the Huntsclan-10:10 a.m._

The Huntsmen walked Jake up to a bedroom. They threw him in like a jailer throws a prisoner in his or her cell. "This will be your room for a long, long time. You're here for your birthmark. Get used to it. Oh, and tests start tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp. Be there," ordered one of the men.

"Change into this. It's the only thing you'll be wearing for the rest of your time here- probably the rest of your life," said the other man.

When they left, Jake fingered his dream charm bracelet. Rose had given it to him years ago so they could talk in their dreams without Huntsmen spying on them. In their rush, the Huntsmen hadn't noticed it. It was his only communication to his family. With a sigh, he started to change.

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A/N (3): You might be confused by when I say "Huntsclan" and "Huntsmen". The HuntsCLAN is the entire team, or clan, of slayers, whereas a HuntsMAN is a slayer in the Huntsclan. HuntsMEN is just the plural of HuntsMAN.

A/N (4): Do you think I should put in 88 and 89 as characters? If so, should they be the same old trainees, or have "earned" their hunter's masks? (The Hunter's masks are masks that show only the eyes, like Huntsgirl's, and Trainee masks are masks that cover the top half of the face up to the nose, like 88 and 89's. I just made that up. More of that in one of the next chapters.) Should they become serious, or the same goofballs six years ago (in the show)?

A/N (5): I'd like to thank my editor and good friend, Grace, for checking up on my work.


	3. Testing

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Huntsmen are both male and female. Female slayers are also referred to as Huntsmen.

A/N (2): I know I'm making too many references about Jake's dream charm, sorry about that, so I'm thinking of having it confiscated by the Huntsmaster in the next chapter.

A/N (3): Thank you Yuul for the reviews and the support. You rock Yuul!

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Chapter 2- Testing

_New York, Beach Paradise Resort Indoor Pool- 09:30 a.m._

Jonathon, Susan, and Haley sat there dumbfounded. The American dragon had just been kidnapped! Of course, Jonathon didn't know about the dragon part, but he was still angry. He wanted an explanation. After what seemed like eons of silence, he spoke up.

"I want to know what happened to my son. What's going on? I want to know right now!"

"Oh, it's just that Jake and I are- mmph!" groaned Haley as her mother covered her mouth.

Susan warned, "Not here. There are people here, and they might hear us."she was right. People were starting to trickle in, "let's go back to the suite." She let go of Haley's mouth.

_New York, Beach Paradise Resort, Long Suite- 09:40 a.m._

"Okay, start talking," Jonathon demanded,

It's… rather a long story," laughed Susan.

"Well, we have all week, don't we? Now start from the beginning."

"Alright. Millenniums ago-"

"Millenia," corrected Susan. Haley looked shocked at missing that.

"_Millenia_ ago-"

"You know what I mean, Haley," interrupted Jonathan.

"Before we start, you might want to sit down from this, honey."

Jonathon sat down.

"Okay, first of all, Jake and Haley are dragons."

_**Almost two hours later- 11:30 a.m.**_

"So everyone from your half of the family is a dragon, and Jake and Haley are dragons too," mused Jonathon.

"Except it skipped my generation," said Susan.

Jonathon was still taking in what he had just learned. He couldn't believe he didn't know half of his family. Susan and Haley told him everything, how dragons are the protectors of the magical world, their enemies, who the Huntsclan was, everything. Susan started on dragon history, and Haley filled in on all of her many adventures, and some of Jake's.

"And now that Jake has a birthmark shaped like a dragon, the Huntsclan came and kidnapped him."

"But he IS a dragon."

"We know that but the Huntsclan doesn't," said Haley, "and we have to keep our human identities a secret."

"Jake is safe as long as nobody finds out he is a dragon. Knowing Jake, he'll use his dream charm to contact us tonight."

"So, who's this Huntsgirl? I want to make sure she's safe to date."

"Dad, Jake's nineteen. I think he can make his own decisions on who to date."

"He grew up so fast," Jonathon said, teary- eyed.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Jake's temporary quarters- 07:30 a.m._

Jake woke up from his refreshing night of sleep. He looked at his Huntsclock. 7:30 a.m. Half and hour until testing. He had contacted his parents and Haley, telling them he was fine. The females of the family had told Jonathan about their dragon heritage, and Jonathon had taken it surprisingly well. He also visited Huntsmaster's subconscious during the few hours the slayer slept. He found that the "tests" that the Huntsmen (the ones that kidnapped him) mentioned yesterday were to test his knowledge on dragons, endurance (physical and emotional), and find how he felt about dragons psychologically. If he passed everything, he would join the hunt immediately. If not, he would have to go to Huntsclan trainee school. _Might as well pass_, he thought, _then I can be the spy that Rose couldn't be. Not that I'm criticizing her_. And looking through the files of the Huntsclan computer, he saw many Huntsmen girls and women in the tribes. He saw Huntsmistress, Huntra, Huntergirl, even Huntress. But no Huntsgirl.

Jake got out of bed and pulled on his trainee mask. It covered his hair, eyes, and part of his nose. He had eye holes to see through. Pulling it on reminded him of 88 and 89, two trainees he had encountered ages ago. He wondered if they had graduated from trainee school and donned the Hunter's mask yet. The Hunter's mask covered everything on its wearer's head but the eyes and the part in between. Only slayers that had officially joined the hunt wore Hunter's masks. 88 would probably never get to wear one, let alone 89. Even if they did, he couldn't help but wonder what names they would go by. Huntsdoofus and Dumbhunter, most likely. Jake smirked at the thought of that.

He didn't notice until a while later that breakfast had arrived. He ate it quickly in silence. A few minutes later a waitress in a mask came to take the tray. The then left. Jake followed her to the first hallway intersection, then asked for directions to where he should meet the "scary men with masks". The waitress pointed and said, "You will only be meeting with the Huntsmaster. He will determine your life." Jake replied with a nod.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 07:30 a.m._

Huntress lived in the top tribe of the Huntsclan. She was in the Huntstribe with the Huntsmaster. Huntsmaster knew her as a loyal hunter that would stop at nothing to rid the universe of the magical world. Huntsmaster also knew that she had once betrayed the Huntsclan and the former Huntsmaster for a dragon, but the new master had no doubts in Huntress' faiths and loyalties ever since she killed the American dragon's grandfather and mentor, the Chinese dragon. He never actually doubted her before, but the death of Lao Shi just put her up higher on his favourites list. She didn't really care about that, she just thought it put her in a good position.

She knew what the new Huntsmaster thought of her. It was a good thing he was misinformed, as her loyalty still laid with the dragons and most of the other magical creatures. She never killed Lao Shi when they dueled, either, he just suddenly passed out. She knew he died of old age, but still felt guilty. That was why when she was sent on missions, she tried to hurt magical creatures as little as possible unless they were truly evil, and she had confidence she could tell good creatures from evil creatures. And the in- betweens.

The new Huntsmaster had become Huntsmaster almost three years ago, when the young female slayer had just rejoined the Hunt. His personality had been different from Huntsman, the old Huntsmaster that died in battle. The new master chose to call himself Huntsmaster whilst he was the master of the Hunt. When Huntsman had liked to go and take action, Huntsmaster liked to sit in the corner and brood. Huntsmaster liked to back up the facts and do research, while Huntsman relied on his intuitions. Huntsman's sole goal was to destroy all magical creatures without sparing even one slayer. He would often sent out a single Huntsman to gain something of magical value. Huntsmaster, however, never sent out single Huntsmen, he would send out teams of two or more. He actually cared about the well- being of the Huntsclan. He, too, wanted to wipe out all magical creatures, but he was careful on how he used his slayers. Huntress felt lucky that she didn't have to go on missions alone anymore. She was also lucky that Huntsmaster didn't pair her up with trainees 88 and 89.

88 and 89 were… different. Huntsman saw potential in those two, who knows where, as slayers. That was why he kept them around. So when Huntsman died and Huntsmaster became the new, well, Huntsmaster, he didn't kick them out of the Huntsclan. 88 and 89 were the only link to Huntsman since Huntsmaster changed how everything worked in the Huntslair. Huntress' intuition told her that 88 and 89 weren't evil, just mislead. She actually kind of missed them, they were the only ones here with the guts to show a sense of humour and use slang terms. What she couldn't believe that they were still trainees. She knew that they could fight for magical creatures, and they most likely would have if the Huntsclan hadn't taken them away from their families and misinformed them. What angered her the most was that Huntsman and Huntsmaster both told them that magical creatures killed their parents and siblings. They had lied to her like that, too.

She still hated the most of the Huntsclan and the Huntsmaster for what they did to her. They took away her only link to her past, the one that she could remember- the name she went by when she was fourteen. She was nineteen now, and had changed her name when she was sixteen. Huntsmaster had insisted that she change it, with threats, so she did.

_Flashback_

_She stood in Huntsmaster's office. It had a superior air to it. On the wall hung his staff, bow, hoverboard, and other weapons that he used. Skulls and skins of dead magical creatures hung on another wall. The cold stone floor was grey, empty, and undecorated, save two of Huntsmaster's greatest possessions- two dragon pelts, one blue and one red. They were both of dragons that she "killed". One of them was the Chinese dragon. The other was her "first slay", although it was faked. The pelt was from when the dragon molted. She wondered where Huntsmaster was. He was usually here before she was._

_As if on cue, Huntsmaster walked in the room._

"_Ah, so you have changed your mind," he noted._

Didn't really have a choice, did I?_ thought the teenager in the burgundy ninja outfit. Instead, she timidly said, "Yes master, I did."_

_The man wearing a large skull- like piece of headwear replied, "Good. Take off your mask."_

_She took it off, revealing a face with a small nose and full lips. Her eyes were blue and her hair was blonde, but one could see that when the girl had her mask on._

"_Kneel," ordered Huntsmaster._

_The female Huntsman did. Huntsmaster slid the mask onto her head once again and said, "Today is your sixteenth birthday. You are no longer a girl. You are a new person. From this moment on, you will be known as…_

"_Huntress."_

_The slayer hid a frown. The name was nice, but she already missed her old one. Her real name would never change, but Huntsmaster didn't care about that. Her old slayer name held a lot of memories. Memories she didn't like, but memories nonetheless._

_Huntress stood. "Dismissed," said the Huntsmaster. Huntress turned and left._

_The newly Huntress walked up to her quarters. It was like the room of any other girl's, except that it was in the lair of a worldwide group of dragon slayers. She found a bottle of hair dye that the master had given her. He had instructed her to use it after she had gotten her new name. The dye would just make her hair a few hues darker, so the rest of the Huntsmen would think that she was just another Huntsman. She undid her braid and tied her hair in a ponytail, then__glanced at the mirror and took her mask off. She looked at herself and whispered her true name, the name her parents had given her and the name the Huntsclan had let her use in public school, the name that would stay with her forever._

"_Rose."_

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Testing room- 09:00 a.m._

Jake Long had been testing for about an hour now. The testers had been calling him Number eight hundred thirty- four. He had no idea that trainee school had that many students. He was pretty sure he got every educational question right, and answered every other question how the testers, and Huntsmaster, wanted him to answer them. Personally, he thought that some of the questions were pretty silly. One of the most memorable was, _What decides a dragon's skin and scale colour when he or she is in dragon form?_Jake didn't know that, and doubted the Huntsclan did, so he used knowledge of his own experience. He was red in dragon form, and his favourite colour was red. Haley was pink, and that was her favourite colour. Sun Park, the Korean dragon, was pale blue, and that was most likely her favourite colour. As for Gramps, well, he didn't really have a favourite colour, but his dragon form was dark blue. Gramps did, however, always wear his blue robe. Jake always wore a red shirt, and Haley always wore a pink blouse. So Jake wrote,_ A dragon's personality, favourite colour, and/ or the colour he or she most frequently wears (when he or she discovers his or her dragon powers) determines a dragon's scale and skin colour._

Right now, Jake was patiently waiting for his test results. When the Huntsmaster came out, Jake stood up in his trainee uniform.

"You were exeptionally fast, #834," complimented the Huntsmaster, "and you did very well. I thought this would take until at least noon. Anyway, the written tests are over, next comes the physical tests. You have a fifteen minute break."

"It's Jake," said Jake for the umpteenth time, "and I have a question. Why does the Huntsclan hate magical creatures?"

"We don't. Well, at least I don't. We despise them. We want to crush them like little dandelions under our boots. Wait, how do you know what the Huntsclan is, and how do you know I'm the Huntsmaster?"

"Huntsmaster? I didn't know that, and I took mythology class in middle school," replied Jake quickly. _Too quickly_, thought the Huntsmaster. He dismissed it as a case of nerves.

Just then, something beeped on Huntsmaster's belt. The fifteen- minute break was over.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, training arena- 09:20 a.m._

Huntsmaster walked Jake to a large gym- like arena. He showed Jake a small armoury and ordered, "Choose your weapon."

Jake chose a bow- like instrument, the Huntsbow. He purposely chose one that was used like a crossbow. Even though he knew how to use all the other weapons, he felt most comfortable with a bow, especially since he was a very good archer. He knew he would be using it when he dueled.

Jake stepped outside. "You must hit all three of these targets, #834" Huntsmaster told Jake.

Jake aimed three times, and all three times his energy blasts hit dead center.

"Good. Now try with the Huntstaff." Again, Jake hit the bulls- eye three times.

Next Jake had to trap targets, some moving, with nets in the weapons.

Jake had to go through a lot of scenarios using the weapons at his disposal. When the Huntsmaster was finally pleased, Jake had to prepare for sparring.

"Your first opponent will be the kraken."

Jake easily defeated the kraken with a double back kick on an aerial somersault. The kraken toppled over on its side. Jake groaned inwardly at the thought of hurting an originally peaceful creature corrupted by the Huntsclan.

Jake's opponents continued to become more challenging. He defeated most of them easily. He used the Huntsbow as little as possible, and Jake could tell that Huntsmaster was impressed with his efforts. After two hours of battling, Jake was barely sweating when Huntsmaster allowed him a forty minute break before his last and hardest opponent, a student form the facility.

_New York, Somewhere between Manhattan and NYC- 12:00 p.m._

The Long family was somewhere on the open road. They just couldn't enjoy their vacation knowing Jake was in the territory of his enemies. Actually, they couldn't enjoy their vacation without Jake at all. After all, it wouldn't be a family vacation if the entire family wasn't there. So they canceled the rest of their stay at Beach Paradise Resort and headed home. Being bored, Haley started to sing _Going Down the Road_. It reminded her of the situation she was in with Jake.

"_I'm goin' down the road feelin' bad, Lord, Lord;_

"_I'm goin' down the road feelin' bad…"_

After two lines, the family started to join in.

"_I'm goin' down the road feeling bad Lord, Lord;_

"_I ain't gonna be treated this-a-way."_

The family kept singing verse after verse, until they quieted down into oblivion.

* * *

A/N (4): So now we know that Huntress is Rose. You also might want to know Huntress is the person Jake will be sparring. I felt like putting irony in there. Just a little something you might want to look forward to. 

A/N (5): Remember when I mentioned tribes, ot Huntstribes? They're small teams of two or three that go on missions together. So if you're in a tribe, you're stuck in there unless all your other tribe members die or quit the Huntsclan, which you can't do. When you're the only person left in your tribe, you get moved to a new tribe.

A/N (6): The Hunt is mentioned in the episode where Rose is offered another chance to be Huntsgirl in the field by killing Jake. If you're wondering about it, watch the episode because I don't want to explain it. So is the kraken.

A/N (7): I don't own the song "_Going down the Road_".


	4. Initiation

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Remember when I said that I would have the Huntsmaster confiscate the dream charm? I changed my mind, Jake is keeping it. I'll try to not mention it as much, though.

A/N (2): In the last chapter when Jake's family was singing, that was the day BEFORE Jake's tests. Get it?

* * *

Chapter 3- Initiation

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 09:20 a.m._

Rose had just finished her daily meditation exercises when her Huntstaff Communicator beeped. Actually, she had rigged it to have all the frequency of the Huntsmaster so she was able to contact other members of the Huntsclan, not just Huntsmaster. As far as he knew, it was still her old communicator, not an improved Comm Link.

She was annoyed, even though she had just finished meditating. Meditation was the only thing keeping her temper in control. She picked up her Huntstaff and swallowed her annoyance. She spoke, "Huntress speaking.

The master replied, "Huntress, I need you to come down to the battle arena to spar with a new tester, number 834. He arrived at the facility just yesterday. If he wins the duel, he joins the Hunt immediately, for he has passed every other test with perfection."

The teenager smiled, "I will gladly take on this opponent, master." Rose didn't want anyone new to join the Huntsclan, and hearing that he passed everything else perfectly would make him a real danger to the magical world.

"Good," said Huntsmaster's hologram with a light smirk, "834 and I will meet you in the Battle Arena ten o'clock sharp. Oh, and one more thing, Huntress, the winner will receive a teleporter for his or her Huntstaff. You have forty minutes to ready yourself."

_Finally_, thought Huntress, _I get my teleporter back. And maybe while he's at it, I'll get my dream charm back, too. If not, I can always teleport to Jake._ She never stopped to think what would happen if the tester won.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Training Arena- 09:30 a.m._

"Come, # 834. We are going to the battle arena. That is where your last battle shall take place." Jake didn't stop or turn around as he followed Huntsmaster to the battle arena.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Battle Arena- 09:50 a.m._

Jake stood in the middle of the arena, warming up with aerial manoeuvers and practiced his kickboxing skills. He had been here before; twice; once with Spud when they pretended to be 88 and 89 and fought the kraken, and once against Huntsgirl when he, the fake 88, was exposed as a dragon. There, Huntsgirl won the battle to the death. In truth, he had faked the death and had given Rose his pelt from when he molted so there would be no suspicions. The old Huntsmaster believed everything.

_The old Huntsmaster_. He had died in battle, or so most of the Huntsmen would think. Jake felt bad, even though he didn't kill him, and he wasn't a murder. They were fighting in the maze of mirriors, and Huntsman shot a blast from his staff at Jake. Jake's reflexes responded immediately and he ducked. The green energy reflected off the mirror behind him, and hit the man. The sixteen- year old dragon boy stared in shock as Huntsmaster crashed into the mirror behind him. They were on the top floor and at the edge of the maze, and the slayer fell down to his death.

Jake was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice, "Ready to be defeated?" she taunted.

Jake abruptly stopped his warm-ups and turned to look at her. Her dark blond hair was brown-streaked and tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were blue. She held her Huntstaff with the head pointing upward, in staff ready position. He grabbed the bow from the ground and looked around him. The area was was devoid of people save he, Huntsmaster, and the girl.

"Huntress, was it?" Jake asked the slayer girl, resisting the urge to call her HuntsPunk, "are you ready to be defeated? By a newbie?"

"Huntsmaster says that you aced every test. Let's see if you live up to your standards." Huntress seemed to be toying with him. Then she processed everything he had just ssaid, "Wait, _newbie_?" Huntress looked incredeleus, and Jake could see it even with her hunter mask on. Before Jake could retort back a witty reply, Huntsmaster stepped in.

"834, this is Huntress. You will be dueling with her today."

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Trainee's quarters, 88 and 89's room- 10:00 a.m._

"Dude, I cannot believe we are still in this trainee dump!" exclaimed 88.

"Yeah, we should have passed, and we should be kicking dragon butt right now!" agreed 89.

"I would be like 'Hi- ya, and the dragons would be like, 'Ahhh! It's 88 and 89!' and they' d totally go running away."

"Naw, I don't think so," disagreed 89, "it'd be more like this, the tiniest dragon would arrive, and you'd be running in circles screaming, 'Nooo! I'm going to die!' Then you would run off crying to your mommy!"

"I would not."

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

"_Would too!_"

"_Would not!_"

"_Would too!_"

"You're a foo, you know that?"

"What's a foo?"

"A fool without the 'L'."

"Hey, 88, come look at this," said 89, ignoring 88's last comment.

88 and 89 were supposed to be doing dragon reasearch on a computer they had borrowed from the trainee academy. Instead, 88 and 89 were hacking into online diaries that other people kept. They were both computer genii, well, more like geeks, but 89 had won rock paper scissors, so he got to operate it.

"It's the American dragon's journal."

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Battle Arena- 10:05 a.m._

Rose moved from staff ready position to battle ready position. _Where do people come up with these stance names?_she thought. The tester had retrieved his chosen weapon, an Huntsbow.

"You may begin," announced Huntsmaster.

Rose ran toward the boy. He looked around her age, and wore the standard trainee uniform- tight jumpsuit, black belt with the Huntsclan ensigma, gloves, and trainee mask. The number on his upper arm was 834. _The Huntsclan has that many trainees?_

She swung her Huntstaff at him and he leaned back. He jumped up with a backflip and shot a blast of green energy at her. She twirled her Huntstaff and sent the blast back to him. She bit down on her next words, "Nice try, dr- er, 834." Why was she about to say _dragon boy_?

The former Huntsgirl could see that 834 noticed her slip when he narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He jumped at her with a flying roundhouse kick. Huntress blocked it, but had to step back from the velocity that it came at him. She sent a few blasts at him, but the trainee tester dodged them all. _That failed_, she thought bitterly. She decided to use a feature in the Huntstaff that she found completely pointless- her water blaster. It was to stop a dragon's fire from doing any damage to civilians, but dragons could control their fire even after it leaves his or her mouth. They cared about civilians, too, but the Huntsclan didn't know that.

The boy teenager used a feature on the Huntsbow that made a shield around him. The water flowed right past him as if he weren't there. Rose was surprised that he knew how to do that, he really was as good as Huntsmaster said. She couldn't figure out how to do that trick until after three weeks of handling the weaponry. Looking over at Huntsmaster, she could see he was also surprised, but impressed.

834 let out a yell as he charged toward her. He tried to punch her, but she dodged at the last second. 834 backtracked, and went for her again, this time landing in a good hit with the side of his Huntsbow. In all her years at the facility, and out, she had never thought to use the bow as a sword. As if reading her thoughts, the boy grinned. She doubted that he was a newbie, he was great at kickboxing and knew how to use a Huntsbow to its full potential, and more. That was a lot for someone who had arrived just yesterday.

She fired a sphinx hair net at him. He moved to the side and caught it with an outstretched arm. He somehow seemed weaker when he did, but he twirled it and launched it back at her. He seemed recovered when he the net was away from him, but Huntress couldn't place why. She hid a gasp as she saw the net coming toward her, and blasted it with her Huntstaff. It fell to the ground and burned green fire.

Huntress was so occupied with the net that she didn't notice 834 right behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder, then punched her. "Oh, yeah, I'm really ready to be defeated," he taunted sarcastically. He followed with a double back kick, then somersaulted through the air toward her in a midair axe kick. Rose caught his leg and swung hum back, but he flipped back onto his feet. Rose then attempted to kick him in the middle of a cartwheel, but 834 ducked out of the way. The two teenagers were now in each other's starting positions, Rose closest to the emergency exit and Jake closest to where Huntsmaster sat, watching them.

834 attacked Huntress with a flying side kick, but was only able to land a hit on her left arm. Her gloved hand missed as she tried to catch his leg again. Seeing she was still up, 834 threw his Huntsbow at Huntress the way one would throw a boomerang or shurriken. And sure enough, the Huntsbow hit Rose hard and returned to the trainee. To finish things off, 834 fired a net at the ex- Huntsgirl. Huntress was down. 834 had won.

_New York, Long Resistance- 11:00 a.m._

Trixie Carter and Arthur "Spud" Spudinski stopped at the Long's house. Trixie knocked on the door, "Fu! We're here!"

Fu Dog went and opened the door to Trixie and Spud, "Hey, the family's came home early. Something about Jake being kidnapped by the Huntsclan, but he's fine, yada yada. Oh, and the old man knows about the family secret. They just went out."

"Oh, yeah, that's cool," replied Spud.

Trixie raised her hands in exasperation, "WHAT? Jake's been kidnapped by the Huntsclan and his dad knows he's a dragon. And it's COOL?"

"What? Jake's been kidnapped by the Huntsclan?" gasped Spud, "and he didn't tell us? Oh, wait, he couldn't."

Trixie rolled her eyes and hit her forehead with her right hand.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Battle Arena- 10:45 a.m._

Jake smirked as he threw the bow at Huntress. He hadn't fought hand- to- hand combat in a long time. Of course it wasn't really hand- to- hand, they both used weapons. The last forty- five minutes were almost intense. Huntress was a really good fighter, good enough that Jake had to improvise a few moves, like using the bow as a curved sword or propelling that net back at her with his arm. But this had been planned. He had a small crossbow at home and had always wanted to use it as a boomerag, or bowmerang, but it wasn't shaped right, and the bowstring would be in the way. However, the Huntsbow was curved at an excellent angle, and was propelled by static energy that appeared when it was drawn instead of a bowstring.

The Huntsbow hit its mark and returned to Jake. He grabbed it and shot a net at Huntress. It was, of course, sphinx hair, but it only had a small amount. He was lucky that it was reinforced with unicorn hair, which dilutes pretty much everything in the magical world except for more unicorn horn. The Huntsclan didn't know that; it wasn't on the test. Huntress fell to the ground, which meant Jake had won.

"Congratulations, number 834. You won," said Huntress. There was something about her voice that he couldn't place. It sounded so… familiar. He'd felt the same shocking sensation of recognition when she spoke earlier during the spar. _Nice try, dr- er, 834._ What was that? He could tell she was going to say _dragon_, but why? He had narrowed his eyes at her voice. He knew it somewhere. Jake decided to let it go and sleep on it.

"Number 834," Huntsmaster spoke up, "meet me in my office at three in the afternoon."

"Yes, sir," Jake's voice was sharp and short. He knelt down to free Huntress from the net, cringing from the unpleasant feeling of sphinx hair. Or, commercially known, Dragon- be- gone, as he had heard so many times. Jake helped Huntress, who did not utter one word of thanks, up to her feet. Jake held out a hand to Huntress, who reluctantly shook it. Little did Jake know, there was a dragon mark underneath that glove.

"No need to be so formal," laughed Huntsmaster heartily with mirth, "you passed the test. You may call me Master. You are truly one of the Huntsclan now. Welcome to the Hunt."

"Thank you, Master," replied Jake with the same amount of formality as before. Inside, he was groaning to himself. _Huntsmaster? Laughing? As if._

"Meet me in my office at three o'clock this afternoon. Huntress, he is not 834 anymore. We will decide a name for you this afternoon. Until then, Huntress will show you around the facility. You are both dismissed."

Both Huntress and Jake bowed, Jake going no lower than Huntress. Huntress turned around and started to walk out. Jake followed her into the corridors of the facility of the Huntslair.

_New York, Central Park- 12:00 p.m._

Haley, Susan, Jonathon, Trixie, and Spud were in Central Park discussing Jake's kidnapping. The place was always empty of visitors around noon, so they had all the privacy they needed. They had found that there was nothing they could do since Jake was on the enemy's turf. They had to hope for the best.

Just then, Susan's walkie- talkie buzzed. Fu was talking to them over the magical channel, its radio frequency wasn't patrolled by the Huntsclan. It was how Lao Shi used to inform Jake of dragon emergencies. "Someone's knocking at the door!"

"Who is it?" asked Haley.

"I'm a dog. Do I look like I can see who they are? It's not like I have x-ray vision. Aa gaa goo!"

"Right," Susan's voice was full of static over the talkie, "we'll be right over."

_New York, Long Resistance- 12:05 p.m._

Jonathan, Haley, and Susan stepped out of the car to see a woman from the Huntsclan knocking at the door. Her mask was off, but the Longs could still see the Huntsclan uniform under the civilian clothes. It was a good thing they had dropped of Trixie and Spud at their respective homes.

"Who are you?" demanded Jonathan.

"She's from the Huntsclan," whispered Haley.

"Just go along with the bluff, all right, Honey-bear?" whispered Jonathan back. Haley discreetly nodded.

"I'm from the government," boasted the Huntsman with authority, "we're going to have to ask you to relocate. Your family is in the way of, erm, a top secret experiment," she lied.

"We?" asked Jonathon, pretending to be confused.

"The government," clarified Susan. She truned back to the woman, "Fine. Just give us a two months to sell our house and find a new one."

"One," bargained the woman.

Susan almost growled, "Deal." She was obviously struggling to remain civil.

The same thought was going through the heads of everyone in the present situation. _Oh no. This is bad._

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Slayer Lunchroom- 12:30 p.m._

Rose was with the new addition to the Huntsclan in the lunchroom, where they had been for the past twenty minutes, finding a field name for him. Only two of the names they had thought of were not taken, and they were Hunter and Huntsman. Rose would have preferred to call him Hunter, because she did not want anyone to be named after the dead Huntsmaster. He seemed to perfer it too.

"Your quick thinking in the arena was ingenious today. Or were you planning those moves?" questioned Huntress curiously.

"Well, some of them was improvisation," replied the boy, "but others were definetlly planned. Like when I used the bow as a boomerang.

"You know we actually _have_mini boomerangs and shurriken."

"You mean those throwing stars?"

"They're called shurriken."

"Which is Japanese for boomerang or throwing, or shooting, star. Which is it? Do you know?"

"How many people do you know can understand Japanese? 'Cause I'm not one of them," joked Huntress. He laughed along with her.

"They're cheap knock-offs for weapons. You know the Koreans invented it. The Japanese just gave them the name."

"No they didn't."

"Yes they did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Let's not go there, okay? We sound like 88 and 89"

"Sure. But who are 88 and 89?"

"The oldest trainees ever. They just can't pass the test," Rose laughed at them, but felt bad for it. Annoying as they were, they were the only ones who were stupid enough to act the same way toward the Huntsmaster as they did to everyone else.

"I feel like changing the subject. Does the Huntsclan work in the day or at night?"

"Well, different tribes have different shifts. I happen to have a night shift, so now thanks to you, I'm only getting three hours of sleep. And I'm just nineteen!"

"Hey me too! I'm glad to have a friend here, even though I was kidnapped. I can understand the need to destroy all magical creatures, so I'm fine with it."

"How'd you know you were kidnapped?"

"I was there. I saw them kidnap me yesterday."

"They didn't try to do it when you were a baby?"

"My dragon mark didn't appear until two days ago. I managed to keep it off all telecommunication units for a day until my dad saw it and called my mom."

"And the Huntsclan telecommunications patrol picked it up."

"Right. When were you kidnapped?"

Rose wanted to go right along and say _birth_, but that would be suspicious. How would she know? So instead she told him what the Huntsclan had told her before she found out the truth, "Well, a few days after I was born, both my parents were killed by a dragon. The Huntsclan found me, and since I had the dragon mark, they took me in. At least it's what they told me. It's why I hate magical creatures." Rose quickly changed her happy demeaner to an angry, vengeful one.

"Oh."

"Do you have a real name, you now, one your parents gave you," asked Rose out of the blue.

"Of course! I only got her yesterday, remember?"

"Right. What is it? Your name, that is."

He suddenly turned serious, "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." There was a moment of silence, then both Huntsmen burst into laughter. "So what's yours?"

"My what?"

"First name."

"I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours," teased Huntress, grinning.

"So does this place have a library?"

Rose's eyes lit up, "Yup. Want me to show you?"

_Lair of the Huntsclan, 2__nd__ floor library- 01:50 p.m._

Jake and Huntress had been in the library for a while. They talked, and Huntress showed him some of her favourite books. He was glad that the slayers in the Huntsclan had a sense of humour, and were just like regular people except they hated magical creatures. On the way here, Huntress had introduced him to one of her best friends here in the facility.

Jake wondered what Huntress wanted to gain by knowing his first name. Again, he felt the same sensation of familarity he had felt twice today- in the arena, and when she mentioned 88 and 89. Then again, maybe she was just curious, but maybe she had a sinister plot against him. Here in enemy territory, she had the upper hand if she wanted to attack him. He hoped she didn't have a grudge against him for beating her in the arena. Either way, Jake had to be careful.

* * *

A/N (3): I love cliffhangers! I surprised myself with 88 and 89, they weren't in the original plot. I'm unsure how to continue- please review and give me some suggestions.

A/N (4): Sorry if the story timeline's moving so slowly… I probably should have put in day numbers. But I already started the story, there's nothing I can do about it.

A/N (5): I don't give a shit about whether the Koreans invented them or not. I just made that up. If it's true, then yay for me, if not, too bad. I do know the word is Japanese; I'm not sure what it means, but a shurriken is a throwing star with four points. Shurriken is still the plural of shurriken. Personally, I prefer boomerangs.


	5. Discovery

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: I know the story has been a little choppy lately, I'll do the best I can with fillers for that. I know I have the plot all planned out, but I'm kinda having writer's block getting the story to flow. Sorry it took so long to post.

A/N (2): I don't get the Knighting process either, but I just thought it would be cool to put some medieval reference in there. As for the mythobiologists' names, I made them up since there are no such things as mythobiologists in real life. Yes, I know the correct term is mythologists, but the show calls them mythobiologists.

* * *

Chapter 4- Discovery

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntsmaster's office- 03:00 p.m._

Huntress walked Jake to the Huntsmaster's office, but Jake had to go in alone. Feeling awkward, he opened the door and stepped inside. Huntsmaster sat in a swivel chair. Hearing Jake enter, he turned around in his chair.

"This is your new uniform," he gestured to a folded two-piece burgundy jumpsuit lying on his desk. A hunter's mask and Huntstaff was on the table too, but Huntsmaster paid no notice to them. Huntsmaster tossed the clothing at Jake, who caught both pieces deftly. "Change," Huntsmaster pointed at the wall of rice paper behind him, "keep your mask off."

Behind the rice paper "change room", Jake quickly undressed and redressed himself. He found himself wearing a tight- fitting turtleneck shirt, a pari of smooth cotton tights, boots that went up to his knees, and a black belt with the Huntsclan insignia on it- an 'H' the same colour as his outfit.

Jake stepped out of the change room. "Kneel,"ordered Huntsmaster. Jake obeyed. "Have you come up with a name for yourself?"

Jake replied, "Hunter. It's not taken- I checked the Huntsmen name directory before I got here." Actually, he had checked it yesterday, but telling the master that would make him seem like an arrogant person, something that the Huntsclan wouldn't want.

Not believing Jake, the Huntsmaster quickly checked the directory for the name. As Jake said, it wasn't taken.

Huntsmaster took the mask from his desk and spoke, "You are a new Huntsman. You are no longer a trainee, so you will no longer be known as number 834," Huntsmaster paused. _I was only "known" as number 834 for two days_, thought Jake.

Huntsmaster continued, "From this moment on, you will be Hunter," and with that, Huntsmaster placed the hunter's mask on him.

Jake tried not to show his wince as the master pulled the mask on his head. He didn't particularly like formalities, but this "dubbing" process was too much. He was also surprised that the Huntsclan cared for such things, but then again, the Huntsclan and Huntslair _had _changed from when he had last seen it since the new Huntsmaster went in office.

"This will be your Huntstaff," Huntsmaster threw the green staff at Jake, who caught it with one hand in his kneeling position. "You already know how to use it, I can see from your tests. But get used to it. It is yours for as long as you are here, and no creature alive can break it without finding its weakness."

"Thank you master," replied Jake. He had learned to use a Huntstaff form the Dragon Council's confiscated armoury- it held weapons confiscated from magical criminals. No one knew its weakness, not even the Huntsmaster, as the person who designed it was dead and never told anyone.

"Stand," said Huntsmaster. Jake stood. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about. Your test results. They were exceptional, and you told me you took mythology in middle school. Who taught you? No mythobiologist I have ever heard of has ever discovered the Huntsclan. Was it R. A. Galem? Pythearean? You must tell me so I can have him or her teach the trainees."

Jake was stunned by this. He didn't want any mythobiologist, let alone any good mythobiologist, work for the Huntsclan. He thought about all the mythobiologists that Rotwood had taught him about. Then, it dawned on him. _Rotwood_! Technically, he was a mythobiologist, and he taught Jake in middle school. The professor couldn't tell the difference between a pixie and a sprite, and he would feed the Huntsclan trainees false information, even though the Huntsmen did that enough. Plus he knew Rotwood would jump at the chance to work for anyone who appreciated his abilities- including the Huntsclan.

Jake honestly answered, "Professor Hans Rotwood, master. If I may be so bold, I would say that you have probably not heard of him; he is unappreciated and misunderstood by the public media."

"No, I have not," Huntsmaster took a breath, "that is all. You are dismissed. Hunter," he finished with a wink.

Jake bowed, turned around, and exited Huntsmaster's office.

_New York, Long Resistance- 03:00 p.m._

Fu, Haley, Jonathon, and Susan had put up the moving issue, but they all knew they had to deal with it sometime. So when they all bumped into each other in the living room, they knew it was time. They had invited Trixie and Spud over to discuss the matter, too.

"What do you think we should do?" asked Jonathon.

"I don't know, move?" suggested Fu pointlessly. Susan and Trixie rolled their eyes at that.

"You know, I still can't get used to a talking dog in our household," commented Jonathon.

"_I'm_ not used to it yet," said Trixie.

"Well, I think having a talking dog is cool, dude," Spud didn't notice that Fu had crossed his arms, well, front legs.

"Helloo? I'm right here, you know."

Haley suddenly got an idea. She imagined a light bulb turning on over her head and giggled. "Why don't we all just close down the electronics shop and move in there? There was no business there in the first place. Jake would know where to find us when he gets out of the Huntslair. And the Huntsclan can't come to us again, it would be suspicious!"

"Works for me, kid," noted Fu casually.

"Great idea, Haley," agreed Susan.

"Terrific," hooted Haley's dad, "we start with moving preparations tomorrow."

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 04:00 p.m._

_I can't believe I let that tester win_, thought Rose testily in her room. He was a good fighter, and completely against magical creatures. And she could tell he had experience from the way he fought and improvised. The Huntsclan would be better off with him on the team, but not the magical world. What was even worse was that he was assigned to work with her in a team of two- since her last two teammates had retired and were living in a Huntsclan retirement home, and the Huntsmaster never went out on the field. Lying down on her bed, she decided to go to sleep until her shift at seven o'clock tonight. Rose quickly fell asleep.

_Lair of the Huntsclan- Hunter's (new) quarters- 04:00 p.m._

Jake sat in his new quarters. The chamber was the only one free at the moment, so it automatically belonged to Jake. He adorned it with dragon posters and magical trinkets that were given to him by the last person who lived there. Jake didn't really want to know what happened to them to make them leave the room.

Huntsmaster had assigned Hunter with his new team half an hour ago. He had a night shift starting at seven o'clock. His new teammate was Huntress, which, Jake thought, was a really big coincidence. She was the only one Jake could call on his communicator, save Huntsmaster. Being her teammate was going to be really hard. Earlier today in the library, she had expressed her distaste in magical creatures. He had gone along with it, but with her on his team, there was no way he could work to help magical creatures.

Deciding to sleep before his shift, he took off his gloves, bely, and boots. His birthmark was still nestled on his ankle, where it would be for the rest of his life. Jake still wore his dream charm as he lay down on the bed. The blackness of sleep took over his conscious mind, and he found himself in the dream corridor where he last woke up.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Trainee's quarters, 88 and 89's room- 04:00 p.m._

88 and 89 were looking through the American Dragon's diary all day, except when they took a lunch break and had a meeting with the Headmaster of the Huntsclan training academy. When they got back, they sifted through pages of his life, but found nothing about his identity. It mentioned him being the American Dragon, his best friends Trixie and Spud, whose last names were not written, his grandfather who died of old age, his family, and the girl of his dreams who disappeared with the Huntsclan, Rose. They saw the dragon's point of view in these matters. They saw that the Huntsclan's story was that the Chinese dragon was killed by the Huntsclan, but it wasn't true. They saw that Rose was an infiltrator in the Huntsclan, but he never saw her again for six years. They saw the truth in the dragon's diary, because, let's face it, why would anyone lie in their own diary? What confused them was that the entries stopped two days ago.

88 and 89 simultaneoulsy reversed their ideals and beliefs to the dragon's side. They might have been goons, but reading that diary made them smart goons. They decided that since they were in the same team of two, they would help their victims as much as possible.

"I can't believe the Huntsclan lied to us," said a disbelieving 88.

"I can't believe that we're switching sides," added 89. Upon receiving a look from 88, he hastily amended, "Not that I'm complaining."

"I just wonder who the spy was," mused 88.

"Huntsgirl," replied 89 matter- of- factly, "_duh_. Remember her? Even _I_ know it was her."

"Oh yeah. I wonder where she went and what Huntsman did to her."

"Probably exiled her. We've got to be more careful than she was."

"Let's look through the journal again," suggested 88, "maybe we missed something about his identity."

"Yeah, we can't have him coming out on us when we're trying to help the magical world. We gotta contact him first."

"Don't forget we have to hide this from the rest of the Huntsclan."

"Right on, dude."

With that, 88 and 89 looked back towards the journal.

_The Dream Realm Corridors_

Jake was in front of his dream door when he appeared in the dream realm corridor. He transformed into his dragon form within his mind. It felt good to be in it, after being in his human form, especially the Huntsclan uniform, for two days. He flew around the corridors looking for his family's doors. They weren't there, which meant they weren't asleep. It suddenly hit him that since he had a night shift in the Huntsclan, he would be sleeping in the day, when his family, with the exception of Fu, was awake. But Fu's dream chamber was in the "mystical animal dream realm", not the human dream realm. HE had learned that in the library today. He wouldn't be able to communicate with his family until he got out of the Huntslair.

As Jake flew back to his own dream chamber, he noticed a familiar name on a dream door. He hadn't seen that name for six years. _Rose_. She didn't have a last name because she was raised by the Huntsclan. Jake had thought she was dead for the past six years, until now. Taking a breath, Jake opened the door to Rose's dream and stepped in.

_Rose's Dream_

Rose appeared in her dream. Today, she was at the Huntsclan Battle arena where she had fought Hunter, but she was wearing a white v-neck and a pair of pink pants instead of her Hunrtsclan uniform. She started to walk toward the door when it opened. A person who looked about nineteen walked in through the door to the field of the coliseum. Rose gasped when she saw who it was. "Jake?"

Jake ran over when he heard his name. He pulled her into a hug. When they pulled back from each other, Rose frowned, "Jake, what are you doing here?"

"Let's see, I'm asleep, wearing my dream charm, and I saw your door. So I came in."

"But you're never asleep when I am," Rose's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, I know."

Jake and Rose chatted mindlessly about random things for a while. It somehow slipped Jake's mind to tell Rose about having a dragon birthmark, and Rose avoided the topic of her disappearance. Jake didn't pry about that either. Just as Jake was about to leave Rose's dream chamber, a loud buzzing resounded inside the arena.

"WHAT IS THAT?" yelled Jake over the noise. He covered his ears, blocking out the sound.

"MY INTERNAL CLOCK!" replied Rose, pulling Jake's hands away from his ears, "IT'S TELLING ME TO WAKE UP BECAUSE I HAVE TO GO ON A MISSION WITH THE HUNTSCLAN!"

"OH! I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THEM" screamed Jake, remembering his birthmark.

"NO! TELL ME NEXT TIME WE MEET!" It couldn't be anything important, could it?

"SURE!" Jake left the room just before Huntress woke up. On her Huntsclock, she saw that there was an hour before her shift. She smiled at her internal clock being so accurate.

_New York, Rotwood Resistance- 05:00 p.m._

Hans Rotwood grumpily stomped to the door as someone knocked on it. When he saw through the eye hole that it wasn't one of his many brothers here to tease him about not being married and living with his mother, he brightened. What he did see was a man and woman clad in burgundy two-piece jumpsuits and ninja-like masks. Their clothing had a symbol on it- an 'H'. _The Huntsclan_, thought the teacher. He was the only mythobiologist that knew about the Huntsclan. He was ridiculed for believing in magical creatures, but he was one of the few humans who knew of their existence. His former student, Jake Long, had told him about the Huntsclan. Jake had saved him once, but Prof. Rotwood had returned the favour. They were even, and on the same slate they were on before his discovery of Jake being a dragon- except this time, they were both smarter.

The professor opened the door. One of the Huntsmen spoke, "Professor Hans Rotwood, we would like you to teach at the Huntsclan academy for trainees. One of our slayers passed his final test, and said that your research taught him a lot. And that you know about the Huntsclan."

"That I do. I will be ecstatic to teach at your Huntschool. Finally some respect! Let me write a note to my mother first telling her I am moving out," said Prof. Rotwood, grinning. He debated about harming the magical world with his knowledge of it, but finally let the rivalry between him and Jake get the better of him. He still liked Jake, yes, but he was an arch-rival, and his pride came first. Especially since he had very little in the human world.

"Very well," stotically replied the female Huntsman, "we will provide you a room and a study where students can come in anytime to gain knowledge."

Writing his note and sticking it to the fridge, he happily left with the two Huntsmen.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Hunter's quarters- 06:30 p.m._

Jake groggily got up out of his bed. He was annoyed at himself for forgetting to tell Rose about his birthmark until the last minute, but she woke up. He quickly got donned his mask, gauntlets, boots, and belt. As much as he despised the Huntsclan, he found the uniforms pretty cool, except for the curved H's. His hunter's mask was a lot more comfortable than the cowl he wore for when he tested.

After freshening up in the washroom in his quarters, he ran to the main auditorium where he met Huntress and Huntsmaster.

_Somewhere in New York- 07:15 p.m._

Hunter and Huntress sat on the ledge of a building. Huntsmaster had discovered that the sister of the American dragon and her mentor, the Korean dragon, were returning an item to a gang of leprechauns. The item was one of the seven runes that, when together, could grant access to any place in any dimension. Huntsmaster planned to collect all seven of the runes, and Hunter and Huntress had been ordered to retrieve the first.

They knew the dragons wouldn't be passing by the building for another hour or so, but they quietly sat on the building, waiting.

_**One Hour Later- 08:15 p.m.**_

Haley and Sun flew past the towering buildings of New York. Haley, having a lot more experience than Jake when he was her age, easily dodged the aircrafts flying in the air without being seen. Sun flew beside Haley with the same agility and speed holding a small piece of wood with a symbol carved on it- one of the seven great runes. When all seven of the runes were put together, they could take the person wielding them to any place in any dimension.

They were both distracted with their thoughts when two Huntsmen jumped out at them- a man and a woman. The man had black eyes and wore the standard Huntsclan uniform. The woman had blue-green eyes and her red- blonde hair was tied in a ponytail and hung below her mask. They both fired blasts at the dragons, who dodged them at the last minute. They were trying to get the rune.

Haley and Sun fought them off as well as they could, but it seemed as if they were invulnerable. They were made to fight together, and they knew quite a bit of martial arts. Together they threw kicks, energy blasts, and punches at the dragons. Sun noticed that they didn't fore one net. The man noticed that Sun had the Rune, and he ran toward her. She threw the small block of wood at Haley, but the woman jumped between them and caught it. Seeing as the rune was in their possession, they one of their Huntsclan transporters activated- Haley couldn't tell whose- and both Huntsmen disappeared in a flash of bright green light.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Main Auditourium- 09:00 a.m._

Two days had passed since Jake and Huntress took down Haley and Sun. Jake was angry at himself for not trying harder to stop Huntress from getting the rune while not betraying himself. He held back as much as possible, but Huntress still ended up getting the rune for Huntsmaster. To make matters worse, watching her fight the way she did made him feel attracted to her, even though he didn't want to admit it. _In a weird twisted way_, he kept reminding himself to keep himself from going to her. He liked her, since she could actually be human rather than just a slayer, but he couldn't date the enemy. _But you dated Rose_, he argued with himself, _and you're still dating her_. _Not after she found out about you being a dragon_, he rebutted, _and no you're not, you stopped doing that six years ago_. Huntress seemed familiar in a sense, but he couldn't place it. It was just that Jake's subconscious would not allow Jake to consider all the possibilities- including the possibility that Rose might be Huntress.

Jake decided to let the matter go and focus on Huntsmaster's speech. Not that he entirely wanted to, but it concerned him. Basically Huntsmaster was speaking on the extraordinary results of an anonymous student. Jake knew it was him, but didn't like the Huntsmaster praising him like that, especially since Huntsmaster rarely ever praised anyone.

Huntsmaster moved on to something else. Jake had not expected this. He was talking about how this young man had discovered his dragon mark only a while ago, and that he was taught by an amazing mythobiologist in middle school.

Jake saw who it was and would have spit out whatever was in his mouth if he was eating or drinking anything. He had taken the master seriously about recruiting Rotwood, he just hadn't expected him to act on it so quickly.

"… Professor Rotwood will have twenty- four hours to settle in his new chambers. He starts his job tomorrow. Both slayers and trainees are permitted to speak with him," Huntsmaster droned on about a few more things before dismissing the crowd, "Dismissed." To that, the crowd rapidly dispersed. Jake saw Rotwood going in the direction of his new room. Jake made a mental note to go speak to Rotwood before his shift- if there was a mission for him. Right now, Jake needed to sleep.

* * *

A/N (3): Why didn't Jake recognize Rose as Huntress in her dream? In her dream, Rose still had her old strawberry- blond tresses. Oh, and, Rose and Jake never broke up, they just didn't see each other for a long, long time.

A/N (4): The Huntsclan is a pretty big "society". If you're wondering how so many people could go on missions (especially on six- hour shifts) in such a small place, I'll just say that the New York division of the Huntsclan covers pretty much all of the United States- the facility just happens to be in New York (the state) and Jake and Rose happen to be patrolling New York City at night. (Technically it's not patrolling, they just go there when something important of magical significance occurs.) 88 and 89 patrol it after Jake and Rose return- at one o'clock in the morning to seven o'clock in the morning. I'm going to make it so that there's a Huntsclan facility in every first- world country, and those facilities would also take care of the neighbouring smaller countries.

A/N (5): I need to think of two other "pure, earthly" materials for the runes. So far I have come up with clay (soil), metal, (unmeltable) ice, and stone. Review and give me ideas! Please?


	6. Identity

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Another chapter up! Yes, everything in there about the Ankh is true. The relations between the runes and Ankh was made up by yours truly here. A rune is a symbol, not something with the symbol carved on it, but I'm changing that in the story. I would actually use something mythical, but everything I can think of now doesn't match the situation. Right now, I just need one more suggestion for the materials of the runes. I have, so far, clay, glass, coal, metal, (unmeltable) ice, and stone. I don't like the idea of unmeltable ice though, so if anyone comes up with an alternative, please PM me or review. Thanks. Happy reading!

A/N (2): For those of you who don't know, Deepweb is a source/program on the Internet that is easier to use than the web. Only a few websites are part of it, or have access to it, and you have to know the exact URL to access it, since you can't access it on search engines. I just made one exclusively for Huntsclan members, regular Internet users can't access it.

* * *

Chapter 5- Identity

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Main Auditorium- 09:00 a.m._

Rose fidgeted in her seat as Huntsmaster spoke. She was thinking of the past three days. She and Hunter took the first rune of seven two days ago, and she regretted it immediately. The master had a small chance of getting the rest of them, but one could never be too careful.

Her thoughts drifted to her new partner. Hunter. She could tell he didn't give it all he had that fateful night, but it was more than any of her old partners had ever given. It was going to be much herder with him around. Maybe she could try a different approach… once she thought of one.

Huntress looked up to the stage and nearly screamed. _Rotwood_? What was he doing here in Huntsclan territory?

"Professor Rotwood has taught an aspiring slayer that just joined the Hunt much. From now on, he will be teaching here." That new slayer was probably Hunter. He was clever to go out of the Huntsweb, the Huntsclan Deepweb and into the rest of the Internet. She knew for a fact that it took a lot to hack _out_of the Huntsweb from within the facility, and that Rotwood's studies weren't shown on the Huntsweb. Then again, maybe he looked up magical creatures before he made it to the Huntslair?

Within herself, Rose taped a note on her mental fridge that reminded her to talk to Rotwood later today.

_New York, (New) Long Resistance, Rooftop training grounds- 12:00 p.m._

Haley, Fu, and Sun were training on the roof of their new home- the electronics shop. They weren't done moving- they still had a long way to go. Haley still needed to train, though, now that Jake was gone. The "incident" two days ago with the rune proved it. Haley wondered what the Huntsclan wanted with a piece of wood with a marking. But then again, if the Huntsmaster wanted it, it was probably very powerful.

"Sun, what was so important about the rune I, erm, didn't deliver two days ago?" questioned Haley.

"Well, kid, it's one of the seven mystical runes of the Ankh," explained Fu for Sun, looking from his magical textbook, "you see, the Ankh was the Egyptian key of life. It was also the hieroglyph for eternal life. When you have an Ankh, you are immortal, you can't die from old age or sickness, because when you do, you don't go to the afterlife, you just stay on earth. Pretty much every Egyptian god, and there were thousands, carried one.

"All the Ankhs were believed to be destroyed, save one. However, Ankhs were very powerful, and people manipulated the last one to do what they wanted. So sometime, and I mean centuries, before the first World War, a wizard and a prophet who saw the war coming sent the Ankh to another dimension. They then created the seven runes, each out of a different material of the Earth, which were sent to seven corners of the world, specifically the seven great wonders of the world, where the portals to the magical world were.

"Nobody can get the runes from where they were put unless they have the right spell. Now the wooden rune has been taken from its resting place, Niagara Falls, and the leprechauns that guarded the falls were supposed to return it there. But the Huntsclan has it now.

"If all seven runes are together, they can bring anything from anywhere in any dimension to you, if you know the right words. The wizard and prophet made them especially to bring the Ankh, but the Ankh is pretty powerful, so the runes are powerful enough to bring anything else to you. They can also bring you anywhere in any dimension. The prophet suggested that so that someone could bring himself or herself to the Ankh or anything else if they needed to, instead of bringing the item to him or her. The older the runes get, the more powerful they become. Right now they are powerful enough to transport every Huntsman in the entire Huntsclan anywhere, any universe.

"Oh, and, one more thing, kid, the runes are indestructable, and so is the Ankh. So we can't destroy them."

"What do you think the Huntsclan is going to do with the wooden rune?" asked Haley.

"Kid, I have no idea, but my best guess is that the Huntsclan wants to collect all seven, then teleport to Draco Island and destroy it."

"Can't they do it now with their teleporters?"

"No, Haley, Draco Island is magically protected. But the runes can penetrate through the spell," replied Sun.

"Right- a- mondo," confirmed Fu, "you see, each symbol on each rune gives a hint that leads to the spell to get the next rune. There's an order to the runes, and the wooden one comes first. No one knows the rest of the order, not even the wizard or prophet. But the hint that lead to the first rune is common knowledge."

"So basically we just have to stop the Huntsclan from getting the rest of the runes," Haley spoke as if it were no big deal. "By the way, how come the wizard and prophet don't know the orders and spells?"

"They wiped their own memories," said Fu simply, "and by wiping, I don't mean making the memory inaccessible, I mean actually taking it out of their heads. They encased them in a glass ball, which they shattered. They're dead now, so it's no big deal."

Haley and Sun started training again while Fu watched them go at their exercises numerous times.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Rotwood's (new) chambers- 06:00 p.m._

Jake nonchalantly knocked on Rotwood's room's door. When he opened, Jake stepped inside. He noted the video and sound systems not pointed at him at the moment, and immediately blasted them with his Huntstaff. Jake stepped inside.

"Rotwood," he almost growled, "we need to talk."

Outside the room, Huntress had her ear pressed to the wall. She had come to discuss the issue at hand with Rotwood, but he was occupied. By Hunter. _Why did she keep running into him?_ she asked herself. So she listened in. She focused on their words.

"…Congratulations, Professor You deserve this job. Most humans don't know about the magical creatures, or the Huntsclan, and you were the first mythobiologist to find us. If you detest magical creatures enough to join the Huntsclan, you will make a good addition to the slayers."

"Why thank you…" said the professor in his accent.

Rose had heard enough. He obviously hated magical creatures as much as the Huntsclan, there was no way she could ally with him. She left and headed straight for her room. Her talk with Rotwood would have to wait a few minutes. And it could.

Back inside, Jake congratulated Rotwood, "…you will make a good addition to the slayers."

"Why thank you…" Rotwood replied.

Jake held up a hand, mentioning he was not done. Hunter grabbed his Huntstaff leaning on the table in the room and pounced, literally, on Rotwood. He put his foot on the former middle school teacher's chest, and pressed the Huntstaff below his throat. Jake continued threateningly, "But I am not one of the Huntsclan. You won't tell them any useful information that they don't already know, none at all, about the magical world. Got that?"

"Yes, yes!" spluttered the professor, "but what do you mean by 'not part of the Huntsclan'?"

Eyes narrowing, Jake tore off his mask, "Remember me?"

Rotwood gasped, "Jake Long!" Jake let go of Rotwood and helped him up.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Trainee's quarters, 88 and 89's room- 06:00 p.m._

"So, tonight we're supposed to get one of the… _runes of the Ankh_… from its resting place?" asked 89.

"I wonder what the old man's up to this time," said 88, "by the way, what is a rune of the Ankh?"

"Well it says here in the Huntsweb that there are seven runes of the Ankh. When they're together, they can transport anything less powerful than the Ankh, which is pretty much everything, to the bearer of the runes, and it can transport the bearer anywhere," 89 squinted as he read off the computer.

"And this slip of paper here has the spell we're supposed to use to unlock the rune from where it is when we get there tonight, right?"

"We can't fail when Huntsmaster is trusting us with something like this."

"Hellloo? We're traitors now, remember?"

"Oh, right," reprimanded 89, "well, we suck at our jobs, so let's just get the rune and wait for a dragon to get us."

"Cool!"

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Rotwood's chambers- 06:15 p.m._

Rotwood gaped at Jake in awe as he related the events of the past three days to him. Hunter, or Jake Long, the American dragon, was now a member of the Huntsclan, even though he was there as a spy. But he had the birthmark- he even showed it to him.

"What made you say my name when you were asked?"

"You were the only mythobiologist-" here Jake made air quotes, "- that I know. I know you taught us about other mythobiologists too, but nobody actually listens to your lectures. No offense," Jake paused, then spoke again, "any more questions?"

"Just one," replied Rotwood, "why did you attack me like that?"

Jake smirked, "I always wanted to do that one of my teachers. If I had done it earlier, you would have expelled me for harassment." Jake's smirk widened into a grin. Then it faded. He spoke again, this time with a slight frown, "None of what just happened in the last twenty minutes leaves this room. At least not by you," Jake's frown deepened, "and that's not me giving you permission to tell other members about our conversation. Understood?"

Rotwood did a mock salute, "Yes, sir."

"It's not funny," said Jake as he picked up his Huntstaff and walked the door.

_**Ten minutes later- 06:30 p.m.**_

Rotwood mulled over what Hunter- Jake- had told him as he finished his dinner. A knock on the door told him he had more visitors. Walking over, he opened it. A girl about the same age of Hunter stood in the doorway.

"Professor Rotwood, was it?" she asked, "I'm Huntress. I'm here to reason with you. But first off, congratulations." She gave him a small smile under the mask.

Rotwood beamed, "Thank you!"

"Now about your loyalties," Huntress sat down on a couch in the room, "I know you know the person who you 'taught'. Hunter. I want to ask you, do you believe in the Huntsclan's motives?"

"Do you?" he counter-asked.

"Truth be told… no," she answered, "But if you tell anyone-"

"Understood. But you are one of them. Why?"

"Professor, you taught me when I was in junior high. At Fillmore." At this, she pulled off her mask, revealing her face. But the professor didn't recognize her. Even if she did look familiar. But he didn't remember anyone with auburn-blond hair. Not waiting for his reply, she continued, "Magical creatures have a right to live. I know you understand. I'm here to ask you to not reveal any information to the Huntsclan that we don't already know."

_Too late_, thought Rotwood. He had already been warned. "I do not recognize you. Who are you?"

"Rose," she answered simply.

"Rose- Huntsgirl?" Rotwood had always known- he found out long before Jake did. It was what drove him to keep studying mythical creatures. But she said that she was Huntress…

"The very same," she confirmed, "but I changed my name to Huntress. For obvious reasons."

Rotwood thought about telling Rose, now Huntress, about Jake being Hunter and his visits. Then again, Jake had instructed him to tell no one. It would be nice to toy with Jake. "I will keep this a secret. But you do realize there are video cameras here, right?"

Ignoring his questions, she asked her former teacher, "My position isn't the only reason I came. You know Hunter?"

_I've known him for the past eight years_, he silently answered. Instead, he just said, "Yes."

"I heard him talk to you earlier today. He is new to the Huntsclan. He is my patrol partner- we are on the same team. I need you to help me come up with a strategy to help the magical creatures without him finding out."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," he smirked.

Not wanting to bother him anymore, Huntress relented. She drew on her mask. "Whatever you say. Nice talking to you, Professor," she said, and walked out the door.

Rotwood leaned in his chair smiling. He wondered how this would turn out.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Slayer Lunchroom- 07:00 p.m._

Jake met Huntress in the lunchroom for dinner- er- breakfast. The Huntsmaster had no mission for them tonight, so he decided to get some food. Jake was surprised that he didn't have jet lag from sleeping at nights. Dragon missions at nights and sleeping during class had finally come in handy.

Earlier today, he had just wanted to just slip in the room, grab something to eat, and slip out. But when Huntress called him over to sit at her table, he couldn't refuse. He felt attracted to her again, and sleeping on it had not helped. That wasn't all there was, though. He still felt that same pang of familiarity whenever he saw her, like he knew her from somewhere, before he got his birthmark.

What he hated most since he got to the Huntslair was pretending to hate magical creatures. He was a convincing liar, but he still hated it. He had no time to dwell on his thoughts, however, because he had already reached the table.

"Hey everyone," he greeted all the people at the table. There were only three others besides himself and Huntress. He recognised them, he didn't know how, but he did, Huntress had introduced them to him yesterday.

The five people chatted about magical creatures all throughout the meal. Jake was ignoring most of the conversation, agreeing with them once in a while. It was only when Huntress asked Jake to meet her in her quarters in a few hours when his head snapped up.

"How about at nine?" he asked Huntress.

Before Huntress could say anything, one of the other Huntsmen piped up, "It sounds like you two are going on a date."

Everyone else at the table unanimously said, "Shut up!" They all leaned in to slap the person. _Like I would date a slayer_, added Jake in his head. _Except for Rose_, he reminded himself.

"Morning or night?" teased Huntress.

"Oh, this is so a date." Four different hands slapped him again.

"We're just partners, alright?" Jake turned back to Huntress, "Two hours from now. I'll see you then, right now I have to go." Finishing the last bite of his food, he got up from his seat and headed toward the training room to practice.

_Draco Island- 08:00 p.m_.

The Dragon Council main computer received an e-mail. From the Long family.

Councilor Kulde was the first to read it. When he did, he called a meeting. The e-mail said that the American Dragon, Jake Long, had been kidnapped. That wasn't all. He had not only been kidnapped, but also recruited. By the Huntsclan. They had no idea that Dragon Long was a dragon. They kidnapped him because of the not- so- blurry birthmark on his ankle. It was a dragon, coiled around his lower thigh and ended on the sole of his foot. Upon hearing the news, the rest of the Council came to a decision. Being the leader of the Council, Kulde was entrusted to give the news to the Long Family.

"The American dragon is to stay in whichever Huntslair he is in," informed Kulde.

The Long family, Sun, Trixie, and Spud gasped. "But-"

"He'll be fine. Just think of him as an… infiltrator."

The family nodded grimly. They turned to leave the temple, but Kulde shook his head. "There is one more piece of business to discuss. In your letter, Korean dragon, you mentioned that the Huntsclan has the first rune of the Ankh. We predict that they will use the Ankh to give themselves immortal power, then use the runes to transport themselves here, to the temple, for battle. We need to be ready for that battle. I'm assigning Sun, Susan, Fu, and Haley to recruit as many members of the magical community as possible. As for you three," he continued, gesturing to Trxie, Spud, and Jonathon, "you three will recruit as many non- magical creatures as possible. Provided, of course, that they already know of the existence of magical creatures. I predict that they will attack in three weeks in Hong Kong, where the dragons of the world meet for the thousand year toast. We must be ready."

Haley was confused, "What thousand year toast?"

"Every thousand years, this temple, the one that we're standing in, transports itself to a place where a lunar eclipse is happening. It always happens during a lunar eclipse. This year happens to be the thousandth year, and the eclipse is happening in Hong Kong. Anyway, all the dragons in the world gather there for a toast for good prosperity, success, yada yada. I'm guessing the councilors think the Huntsclan is going to attack us there," Fu explained.

"Correct, Fu Dog," said the councilor.

"May I suggest something?" asked Fu. Haley almost burst out laughing until she got the Look from her mother.

"Go on," he encouraged.

"I suggest that we stall when we fight them. Then, when the eclipse ends, we leave, leaving the Huntsclan in there when the eclipse ends!"

"Of course!" exclaimed Sun, "when the temple transports itself back here, to Draco Island, the slayers won't travel farther than halfway in the space- time continuim…"

"Leaving them stranded and trapped in the fabric of space and time, where they will deteriorate," finished Jonathon. When everyone in the room turned to look at him, he shrugged and said sheepishly, "What? I've been reading Fu's magical textbooks! You know they are _so_ advanced!"

"Alright. I'll speak of it to the other coucillors," finalized Kulde, "that is all." The seven people left Draco Island and went home to continue their daily routine.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 09:00 p.m._

Jake knocked on Huntress' door. "Hey," he greeted her when she opened it.

"Hey yourself," she replied. _Seriously, I've heard that somewhere before_, he puzzled. Huntress stepped by to let him in.

Stepping in, Jake looked around. The bare walls were painted white. Huntress obviously had not decorated it with anything the average teenager would have. The left wall was almost completely covered with windows. She lived in the tallest turret in the Huntslair, he could see the rest of the Huntslair from there. A small cot was pushed against the windows, just like in his room. A desk and two chairs were pushed against the right wall, and a third chair was pushed in the desk. A computer sat on top of the desk, also like his room. Her Huntstaff, Huntsboard, Huntsbow, and the rest of her weapons were hung on a bulletin on her wall, like a mini armoury.

"Wow," said Jake, taking in the room.

"Yours can't be that different from mine," Huntress folded her arm.

"You know, I didn't come here to discuss our rooms- er- chambers," noted Jake.

"You know that Huntsmaster is only that formal, and we're only that formal around him," she grinned.

Jake sat on the bed, "You're right. But I still didn't come here to talk about our rooms."

"We're not."

"We are now," Jake smirked.

Huntress groaned, "Very funny. Hey," she said, changing the subject, "you said your birthmark only came in a while ago. Can I see that?"

_I guess it wouldn't do any harm_, thought Jake. "Sure," he agreed, taking off his boot and lifting up the leg of his pants. "Wow, it's become even clearer."

"Huh. Birthmarks come in all shapes and sizes. No one has the same birthmark in the same place that is the same size, even here in the Huntsclan where we all have dragon marks," commented Huntress in response.

"Hey, can I see yours?"

"No."

"Why not? I showed you mine."

Huntress relented. "Fine." She pulled off the glove on her right hand revealing a dragon mark wrapped around her wrist.

Jake gaped at the sight. A swirl of memories of the past three days flashed through his mind.

_Flashback_

_"Ready to be defeated?" she taunted._

_"Nice try, dr- er, 834." Dragon Boy, thought Jake._

_"You know, we actually have mini boomerangs and shurriken."_

_"How many people do you know can speak Japanese?" Huntress joked._

_"Both my parents were killed by a dragon. At least it's what they told me. It's why I hate magical creatures." Huntress changed her expression very quickly._

_"I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours." First name, Jake remembered._

_"Jake?" Rose looked toward him in the dream realm._

_"Can you meet me in my quarters today, Hunter?" Huntress asked him to meet her.  
"How about at nine?"  
"Morning or afternoon?"  
"We're just partners, alright?_

_"Hey," he greeted her."  
"Hey yourself," she replied._

_"Birthmarks come in all shapes and sizes. No one has the same birthmark in the same place that is the same size, even here in the Huntsclan where we all have dragon marks," commented Huntress._

_"Fine," she said, pulling off the glove._

Gasping, Jake yanked off Huntress' mask. She looked as surprised as he did. After the silence, he finally managed to stammer out, "Rose?"

* * *

A/N (3): Teehee. Another cliffie! I just love writing them. I wonder how 88 and 89's revelations will work out.

A/N (4): I know what you're thinking- that the toast should have happened six years ago. Well I changed it. Got a problem with that? And I know I've been making the Huntsmaster too nice. Don't worry. Just wait until you see what he does to 88 and 89 when they fail to bring him the second rune. BTW, Fu is considered one of the Longs now.

A/N (5): Hits+ Reviews= a very happy Dee! Review please, and I might just post faster. Thanx to all who have already reviewed.

A/N (6): In season two, the Huntsclan stopped wearing gloves. In this story, the new Huntsmaster assigned them to be put on again. I'm just going to make up an excuse on the spot and say that it's going to be used to protect fingerprints. It gives a nice chance at revelations, don't you think? Speaking of which, the next chapter is going to be called _Revelations_.


	7. Revelations

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: I'm not the best with getting characters right, I'm worse with Jake's slang. But I think I did okay in this story, but if the characters are a little off, you can PM me. Or review. :)

A/N (2): I'm not very good with relationship stuff, either. Would you believe that I'm 17 years old and have never been on a date? Well, I'm not. Seriously though, I'm not the best with romance scenes. I'm not a big fan of PDA, so I'm not a big fan of describing someone's love life. I feel like I'm intruding.

A/N (3): The time zones in New York and Arizona are different, but the times are set to the New York time zone, EST.

* * *

Chapter 6- Revelations

_Lair of the Huntsclan- Huntress' quarters- 09:15 p.m._

"Rose?" Jake gasped. He couldn't believe that she was here.

"How do you know my given name?" she demanded, rising out of her seat.

Jake stood up and lifted his arms up in defiance, "Relax. It's just me." He pulled off his own mask.

Now she was even more surprised, "Jake?"

"The great Huntress finally sees the truth," he said, and sat down back on the bed relieved. "It's good to see you too."

Rose relaxed her posture and sunk down back on the bed, "I see you haven't lost your sense of humour," she commented with a wry smile, "but you had better start explaining."

Jake told her everything. His birthmark, the vacation, the tests, recommending Rotwood, his first interpretation of her, the runes, everything, "… and that's pretty much the story so far."

"You know my story. You come, I fight you, you pass the test, we become partners, we steal a rune from your sister and old home EC teacher, Rotwood comes, I talk to him, and here we are in my room, discussing this."

"Wait, you talked to Rotwood?"

"After you did. I knew because I listened, er, overheard you talking to him."

"You know, I knew there was a reason I liked you. And I guess it's also why you seemed so familiar. But why'd you dye your hair?"

"I didn't. Well, I did, but I stopped because my real hair colour grew really close to the dye colour. It was so I would be less recognizable among the Huntsclan. It was also why Huntsmaster made me change my name from Huntsgirl to Huntress," she added bitterly. "Actually, Huntsmaster started to refer to all the male trainees as Huntsboys and the females as Huntsgirls, as a group."

"So what are we going to do about the runes? We both know of their potential power and what Huntsmaster could do with them."

"Leave the tower at one o'clock tonight. It's when 88 and 89 start their shift, and they're getting the second rune. Go after them- it's your duty as the American dragon anyway. Rumour has it that they're going to get it at the Grand Canyon, those two just can't keep a secret. Don't think I'm making fun of them, I respect them enough, they're the only ones that have the nerve to act their normal selves around Huntsmaster."

Just then, Rose's Huntstaff beeped. It was Huntsmaster wanting to speak to her. Nodding an affirmation, she turned off the communicator.

"Come to my dream chambers this afternoon, Jake. I have to go meet Huntsmaster right now."

"Does he always call impromptu meetings?"

"Oh yeah. But he's still a lot smarter than the old Huntsmaster, you know."

"Yeah… sorry about your uncle… his death was actually an accident."

"I know. I watched the satellite tapes. And I've never had any relation to any Huntsmaster, Jake. Now I _really_ have to go. It was… great talking to you in person again," Rose smiled and stood up. She started to walk to the door, then thought better of it. She turned around, gave Jake a small peck on the cheek, and left the room.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntsmaster's office- 09:40 p.m._

Rose made her way down the winding corridors of the Huntsclan facility and stopped in front of Huntsmaster's office. He swung around in his swivel chair when she walked in. _Does he always have to portray that image?_ she wondered.

"Why did you ask me here, master?" she asked.

Huntsmaster answered her question with another, "Do you remember when Huntsman took away all your means of communication other than your Huntstaff communicator? He also took away your Dream Charm and Huntstaff teleporter."

She did, she remembered it well, "Yes master."

"I am allowing you access to everything he took away," said Huntsmaster. He took her Huntstaff and tinkered it for a few seconds, then gave it back. Along with that, he handed her a new dream charm and all her old communication devices, "You have earned these devices along with my trust, Huntress. Do not betray it."

"Thank you, Huntsmaster," replied Huntress. She really didn't need the other phones, but she did want her dream charm and teleporter back.

"That is all," replied the master, "you may go."

_What happened to '_dismissed_'? It's the word he usually uses,_ she thought. She bowed, and stiffly walked out of Huntsmaster's office.

_Arizona, Grand Canyon- 01:45 a.m._

88 and 89 soared on their Huntsboards toward the Grand Canyon. The exhilaration of surfing through the air still gave them adrenaline, even though they had been doing so for the past forty minutes. They had no teleporters, so they had to ride. They finally arrived right on top of the world's biggest hole, or so it was called.

"Woah," said 89, "we're up high. At least we're not scared of heights anymore."

"Yeah, man," agreed 88 looking at a map, "but according to this magical 3-D map, it should be right here."

"Dude, you're holding it upside down."

"Man, how do you hold a 3-D holographic magical map upside down? There's only one base!" 88 was holding the map like a snow globe; base on bottom, and hologram on top.

"Dunno, you're the one doing it."

"Jeez, fine," said 88, and flipped the hologram so the base was on top, "and now the rune is supposed to be down there."

The two of them lowered themselves down to the ground on their Huntsboards. They stepped off them and picked them up.

"Hey, look,"said 88, "we're right on top of it." Both trainee slayers looked down. Sure enough, a clay cylinder about the size and half the height of a roll of film laid there in the dirt. A symbol was carved in it. 89 reached to pick it up, but no avail. 88 bent down to help him. The rune was lodged into the earth.

"Wait," 89 remembered, "didn't the old man say to use the spell or something?"

"Oh yeah!" 88 pulled out the sheet of paper with the incantation on it, "it's only three words."

"Terra, auma, release! For once the words are easy to pronounce. It also says here that we have to do this."

Following the instructions, the two of them sat in the dirt in lotus position around the rune, eyes closed. "Terra, auma, release, Terra, auma, release," they chanted.

A few minutes later, a blue mist started to swirl around the rune. The blue began to pick up traces of dirt around the symbolised cylinder, and the rune started to float up. 88 and 89 opened their eyes. 88 reached out to grab the rune, and he closed his fist around it. He pulled it back, however it stubbornly held itself in midair. 89 pulled on 88's arm, and the two of them forced the rune out of the air. The blue mist faded, and the dust encased in the glow disappeared with it.

"We got it!" cheered 89.

"Now when's the dragon gonna come so we can give this to him?"_**.**_

Becoming impatient fifteen minutes later, the trainees decided to go back to the Huntslair. They decided they would most likely meet the dragons on the way back, so they turned their tail and left.

_Somewhere over Arizona, 02:15 a.m._

Jake flew against the wind toward the Colorado River, where the Grand Canyon was. He wasn't able to sneak out of the Huntslair until one thirty, so 88 and 89 had gotten a head start. The Huntslair was in New York, the state of course, and the Colorado river was in Arizona. Hes fastest flying speed was mach 3, the Huntsboards could go at mach 4 if egged on, so 88 and 89 got both a speed and time head start.

Jake was on 'autopilot mode'. It allowed his subconscious to fly for him, just like it always breathed for him, while his conscious relaxed. He figured he could stay in autopilot mode for a few more minutes before having to guide himself.

Jake wasn't focused on where he was going. He looked straight forward, and didn't notice two other aircrafts approaching him. Wait, they weren't aircrafts. They were dragons! One of them had to call out to him before he saw them. He quickly swerved to the right and they skidded to a stop in front of him. When he say who they were, he was surprised. Pleaseantly so.

"Sun? Haley?"

"Jake?" the two of them asked in unison.

"It's awesome to see you guys!" he exclaimed, "you have _no_idea how hard it was to sneak out of the Huntslair." Jake continued telling about his escapades, and apologizing for the scrape on Haley's arm from his Huntsblast.

"We told the Dragon Council what happened. We determined that the Huntsclan, all of them, are going to use the runes to make them invulnerable with the Ankh, then transport them to Hong Kong when the thousand year toast is happening this year.

"Dang! The thousand year toast! I'm goning to miss it!"

"We're going to fight them, and keep the fight going until the temple of Draco disappears, with the Huntsclan. They'll be trapped in the fabric of the space/time reality."

"We plan to gather as many magical creatures as possible. The Council is taking care of the dragons," Haley continued for Sun, "we have a lot of connections, but we need a person who can fight well and a healer. A sorcerer, maybe?"

"As many people as possible, huh? I have some connections, and I know some of Gramps'. I'll try to contact them, even if it'll be hard from the Huntsweb. Besides, it'll be good to see them again."

"Great idea, Jake," complimented Sun.

Haley yawned, "How do you do it, Jake? It's tough to be the American dragon. I've been only getting about three hours of sleep a day, and that is NOT enough for the average teenager."

Jake shrugged, and the three of them flew on towards the Grand Canyon. They didn't get far, though, because two figures on hoverboards were flying toward them.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, 2__nd__ floor library- 02:15 a.m._

Huntress was in the library brooding about Jake and how he got to be here in the Huntsclan. She thought of his birthmark and gasped inwardly.

Rose remembered a vague prophecy about the Huntsclan. It was known by everyone in the magical world, and by all the Huntsmen. _A dragon marked dragon will be the end of the Huntsclan. That marked one will be the Tie between magic, logic, and humanity._ It was one of the first things they learned in the Huntsclan academy, even though nobody knew what it meant. Until now. _The 'dragon marked dragon' must be Jake. He has a dragon mark, and he's a dragon,_ she realized.

If Jake's the Tie, then it must mean that the human world will discover the existance of magical creatures while he is alive. Most of the human world,_ she corrected herself, as there were some humans who already knew about mystical creatures._

Huntsclan prophets determined that anyone with a dragon mark was destined to slay dragons along with other magical creatures. But Jake _was_a dragon. It meant the Huntsclan was a hoax. Or at least, the morals of the Huntsclan. Maybe they were just there to slay evil magical creatures.

_Stop dwelling on it or you'll get obsessive,_ she ordered herself. She decided to wait for Jake to come back and tell him of her findings before thinking on it some more.

_Somewhere over Arizona- 02:45 a.m._

"They're back already? They must have gone fast." murmured Jake, "Yo, Huntschumps," he yelled, "give us the clay rune of the Ankh!" The three dragons got into battle stances.

"We don't want to fight, dragons" said 88, putting his hands up. 89 tossed them the rune, which Haley caught.

"How do we know this is real?" demanded Haley.

"It's real. The symbol on the rune can only be written once," answered Sun, looking over the rune.

"We have to go. Later dragons!" called 89.

"Wait," commanded Jake, "you're just giving us the rune? No fighting? No arguments?"

"Hey, we read your online journal. We understand the Huntsclan is evil, so we're giving you the rune. We'll help you in any way possible."

"You did WHAT?" yelled Jake, "prove that you're on our side."

89 counted off his fingers, "Huntsgirls' real name is Rose. You're Sun Park, a teacher at Fillmore middle school-" 89 pointed to Sun, "your name is Haley, I didn't get a last name, you share Canal Street Electronics, a tech store, and you mentioned two humans, Trixie and Spud, your friends. What kind of name is Spud anyway? And why do you call him potato boy?"

"I should really enhance gramps' security system", groaned Jake.

"Sorry," shrugged 88, "but at least we know that not all magical creatures are bad. Don't blame us; we were mislead."

"No," Haley spoke up, "we need the Huntsmaster to get all seven runes by the next eclipse, which is happening in Hong Kong, and there, we can end the Huntsclan once and for all." She handed the rune to them again.

Sun and Haley turned and left, leaving Jake with 88 and 89.

"Okay, so you read my journal. Ever wonder why I stopped writing all of a sudden?"

"Yeah…"

"Here's the deal. A week ago, I discovered that my birthmark had cleared…"

_Lair of the Huntsclan, 1__st__ floor library- 10:45 a.m._

Almost three hours ago, 88 and 89 had returned from patrol. They had given the rune to Huntsmaster, who was very pleased. A little while after that, they met Jake, known as Hunter to the Huntsclan, the American Dragon to the magical world. The trainees didn't get a last name, and as far as Jake, 88, and 89 knew, the Huntsclan had no idea that Hunter and the 'Am Drag' were the same people.

That was when Jake introduced them to the girl known as Huntress. Jake explained their predicament with 88 and 89 to her, and vice versa. They found out that Huntress' real name was Rose, and she had no idea of a last name. 89 felt jealous of her- she actually had a given name, by her parents, to go by- instead of just a number or identity on the Hunt. They also found out that she used to be Huntsgirl until the new Huntsmaster came and made her change her name.

The four of them found out more about each other and their pasts. They became instant friends, and even joked around about finding other Huntsmen with the same ideals as them.

They had talked for about two hours or so when Jake and Rose- Hunter and Huntress- left the library. 88 had left too, leaving 89 to stay and read. He looked up the history of the Huntsclan, something they didn't cover in the Academy, and found that the reason the Huntsclan formed was over a twenty- meter long stick with no magical properties. The stick was like a staff- smooth and straight- except it had grown naturally. The stick had been destroyed, and the first Huntsmaster created the Huntsclan to destroy magical creatures, which prophets confirmed later on. But since the prophets were not magical Oracles, their prophecies were off.

A vibration on his belt interrupted him from his thoughts. It was Huntsmaster calling on his belt comm. He took the 'H' insignia off his belt. A hologram of Huntsmaster appeared, telling him to meet him in the auditorium in an hour.

_The Dream Realm Corridors_

Jake walked around in the hallways of the dream realm corridors looking for familiar dream doors. He stopped in front of Rose's, but as he reached out to open the door, Rose beat him to it.

"Guess what? I got my dream charm back! And my teleporter and communicators."

"Cool," replied Jake.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Actually, Rose," Jake said a little hesitantly, "would it be okay if we went to my dream chambers instead of yours?"

"Sure," Rose frowned, "but why?"

"It's just that, well, I kinda want to explore my subconscious. I haven't gotten to it in the past few days, and I quit using it after you, um, left. I only started using it again the day I discovered my birtmark. And I really want to know my past."

"Oh," Rose brightened, "that's cool. Let's go." She started tugging him one way.

"Uh, my dream is _that way_," Jake pointed behind him.

"No it's not," she grinned as they arrived at a door marked _Jake L. Long_. Jake blushed.

"You're so lucky that you have a last name and a middle name," Rose commented, "I have neither," she paused. "By the way, what _is_ your middle name? You never told me."

"Luke," he admitted, "I know it's a stupid name, but it wasn't like I could choose." Jake then realized something, "Hey, the _L_ was never there before."

"Weird."

_Jake's Dream_

The two of them stepped into his dream chamber before falling into a deep void. They landed in the Longs' living room. The television was a portal to Jake's subconscious, and Jake jumped into the portal quickly followed by Rose.

"Would you mind if we started from my birth and moved ourselves up?"

"No."

"No? You don't want to start from the beginning?"

"No! No, I wouldn't mind if we started from the beginning," Rose was flustered.

Suddenly, Jake and Rose found themselves in a hospital room. Jake was being born. "I don't really need to see this," Rose cringed, "can we skip this part?"

"I agree," Jake winced at his mother's cries of pain and fast forwarded his memories on a metaphoric remote control. They were still in the hospital room. This time, Susan was asleep holding little Jake in her arms. Their eyes zoomed in on the mark on Jake's ankle. It was there, clear as it was now. A nurse came in, holding a bottle of spray.

The nurse held little Jake's ankle still as she sprayed his ankle with the obviously cold substance. Immediately, his birthmark began to blur. Little Jake started crying, and the nurse soothed him with the reasons why she did what she did.

Little Jake couldn't understand anything, but dream Jake and Rose could. The nurse explained that he would have been kidnapped by the Huntsclan because of the dragon mark, and she didn't want that for the family's first child. The mark would clear in twenty years, give or take a few, but at least he would know his family.

Jake and Rose sped through more memories as the time passed, even though the Dream Corridors were supposed to be timeless. It was until they had reached his thirteenth birthday, when he discovered his being a dragon, when Rose remembered her realization of Jake and the prophecy. She started to tell him everything.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Main Auditorium- 12:00 p.m._

"Huntsboys and Huntsgirls, I am pleased to announce the end of all magical creatures," the Huntsmaster stated, "Professor Rotwood has found a way to end them."

In truth, this was the plot of the Dragon Council, Rotwood was just helping to make sure it would be carried out. Jake had informed Rotwood of the thousand year toast, and what was going to happen if things went to plan. It was either the end of all magical creatures, or the end of all of the Huntsclan.

Huntsmaster was continuing on with his speech, "That is not the only reason I called you trainees here. We need as many Huntsmen as possible, and we-" he gestured to all the administrators and Rotwood, "-need you to take the test. Even if you do not pass, you will still come with us, we need each and every one of you. However, you will not be given the privileges of a slayer.

"This is our chance to triumph. This is our chance for the destruction of all magical creatures. We are the Huntsclan. We will win this war that has waged for the past ten millenia!"

The trainees cheered and clapped at the end of Huntsmaster's inspirational speech. As they retreated to their classes, Rotwood could not stop a smirk. _We'll see, Huntsmaster, we'll see._

* * *

A/N (4): Remember the incantation the 88 and 89 had to do to get the rune? _Terra, auma, release_. It basically means earth, energy, release, in that order. Terra is the Latin root for _earth_, auma is the Inuit term for energy within an object or being (aura is the radiating energy signature, if you're wondering), and release is, well, release. It's pretty much telling the rune to use its own energy to release itself from the earth. Just a bit of insight there. :)

A/N (5): I don't care if the Grand Canyon was 'created' after the first World War, or the Great War. The Rune got moved, okay?

A/N (6): What the Dragon Council didn't realize was that the Ankh could be used to destroy all magical creatures. And that's what Huntsmaster meant when he said 'The destruction of all magical creatures'. I figured some explanations were necessary after both my editors asked me about them. (I didn't know about betas when I first wrote the prologue and chapter 1 so I hired volunteer editors and now I'm too lazy to fire them. LOLZ:D.)

A/N (7): Review! Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?


	8. Conections

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Here's chapter 7 for Jake in the Huntsclan. I don't know how many this story will have, but I'm hoping for under ten, prologue and epilogue included. Sorry it took this long to post, but with school starting again, I won't have as much time with homework and all. Sorry. I'll do my best though. 3000 words here!

A/N (2): I've got no idea who Æµ is, it's just some guy that won't appear again, okay? (He appears in a few paragraphs, don't ask)

A/N (3): I know that Hunter and Huntress are cheesy names. I got the name Huntress from one of the DC Comics, and Hunter is just the masculine form of Huntress. I suck at names, don't judge me, okay?

A/N (4): This is definitely one of the shorter chapters. It's just a filler, there's not much action going on here. Again, I'm sorry for the delay, and I can't give you a longer chapter because again, this is a filler.

* * *

Chapter 7- Connections

_New York, Canal Electronics Store- 01:00 p.m._

"Yo, Herbert, I need a favour."

"_What?_"

"I need you to join us in Hong Kong during the lunar eclipse in… five days."

"_What for?_"

"The Huntsclan. Need I go on?"

"_Huh?_"

"The. Huntsclan. We're going to fight them. As many magical creatures as we can get. It's supposed to be the 'last battle' but hey, I'm a six hundred year old dog- give or take a few- and I'm not one for epic stuff."

"_Whatever. Look, you still owe me those biscuits-_"

"That was six years ago! Fine. I'll pay you back in full if you help us."

"_But you'll still owe me a favour afterwards?_"

"This isn't for me, buddy. It's for the entire magical world. You included. But sure. I'll throw in a favour. Happy?"

"_Deal,_" the voice growled.

Fu got off the phone with Herbert the goblin, one of his old betting buddies. _Well, that's the last of them,_ he thought,_ better tell the others._

"Hey! I contacted everyone magical person I know."

"Did you double- check?" came Haley's voice from the other's room.

"Sheesh. I'll do it now." Fu fumbled through his phone book, which is very hard to do when you have paws instead of hands. "Let's see… Vanessa, Oracles, Silver, Stanley, Æµ…" he flipped through the pages, "Yup! That's everyone!" He sighed in contentment and went back to napping on the couch.

_The Dream Realm Corridors_

Rose had just finished telling Jake about her suspicions of him being the link between magical creatures and humans. Jake's response was exactly what she thought it would be, surprised and then playfully arrogant, but this time, the reaction passed quicker. It turned out the Jake had something to tell her too.

"Rose, you know how when I went to stop 88 and 89 I saw Haley and Sun?"

"Yeah," she responded slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

"Yeah. The dragon council has come up with a way to get rid of the Huntsclan once and for all."

"That's great, Jake!"

"Every thousand years, the dragons of the world hold a toast for good peace and prosperity. Did I already tell you this?"

"I know about the toast, it was in our year seven academy textbooks, but I'm not sure if you've told me. But go on."

"We found out the Huntsclan is going to strike at us using the power of the Ankh and the runes on the night of the toast, at the lunar eclipse."

"Right."

"We need more reinforcements than the dragons of the world. The dragon council told my family to recruit as many magical creatures as possible, and even humans that know about the existence of us, like Trixie and Spud. And Fu knows a ton of magical creature that will be willing to help."

"But not all magical creatures are good. The Huntsmaster said that _all_ the magical creatures would be destroyed."

"If we lose, the Huntsclan will just slay the others one by one."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I know a lot of people that Fu doesn't know, and I'll be calling them to meet us in Hong Kong a few days from now."

"Cool."

Jake walked Rose back to her dream door and said, "You know, I'm tired of sleeping, and I don't care if it's only been seven hours. I slept for more yesterday. Can I meet you in the library once we wake up?"

"Sure," Rose replied. With that, she closed her dream door and awoke.

_Lair of the Huntsclan- Hunter's chambers- 06:00 p.m._

"Congrats, guys," said Jake.

"Especially finishing the test in just four and a half hours. It took me six," added Rose. She didn't bother to mention that Jake only took three.

88 and 89 had just passed the Test- they were now slayers. They had not been given Huntsnames yet, they would be when they went on patrol that night. They were just glad to be slayers after fourteen years of being in the academy.

Hunter and Huntress had been given their patrol assignments early. They were to go to Australia to get the third rune, of ice. It was at the Great Barrier Reef. Huntress asked why the Australian division of the Huntsclan couldn't do it, it was because there was no Australian branch.

Within the privacy of his room, Jake was making phone calls. Rose, 88, and 89 were discussing battle plans. Jake told everyone he called to meet him at the Great Barrier Reef at seven fifteen, Eastern Standard Time. Jake had just fished through the last of his connections when he realized he had to call a certain Australian dragon to get permission to go on his turf. He had only spoken with Fred Nerk twice in person, once when he first met the Dragon Council, and once when they both had to deal with the legendary Sedna from the Arctic.

He peeled off his mask and dialed Nerk's number on his holocaller. Nerf picked up on the third ring, "_Fred Nerk_," he said in his accent. Jake saw that he had just woken up Nerk over the holocaller.

"Yo, what happened to, 'Fred Nerk, Aussie Drag'?" Jake joked.

"_Long? It's six in the morning here, you know that?_" Nerk yawned

"Good to see you too, Nerk."

"_Yeah, eh?_" the nineteen- year old gold- orange dragon replied good-naturedly.

"Actually, this isn't a casual call," Jake turned serious.

"_The American Dragon can be _serious_? What's next, mermaids become land creatures?_"

Ignoring Nerk, Jake continued explaining the situation, or the _sitch_, as Nerk called it, "… so I'll need your permission to go on your turf," Jake finished.

"_No you don't, mate_," said Nerk, turning serious as well.

Jake's joking demeanor came back, "_The Australian dragon can be _serious_? What's next, goblins become smart?_" Jake mocked Nerk.

_Melbourne, Australia, Fred Nerk's loft- 06:20 p.m. (EST)_

On the other side of the world, Nerk rolled his eyes and got up off the bed, "Hold on, let me get in a better posse."

On his holocaller, Jake looked confused, "_Posse?_"

In the background, a female voice which Nerk assumed to be Rose, the girl Jake told him about, said, "_Australian slang for position._"

"_You Aussies have really weird slang terms._"

"We don' t bother with long words like you, mate."

"_What's so hard about 'position'?_"

"Ask your girlfriend."

"_Rose is not my girlfriend!_" Jake denied the obvious pairing, "_not yet, anyway_," Jake muttered under his breath.

Nerk rolled his eyes again. He got up off the bed and sat down in a chair with a holocaller stand. He hoped Jake wouldn't ask about his title of Australian dragon, or anything remotely close to the subject. No such luck.

"_What's your answer, Nerk? Do the four of us and a bunch of other magical creatures get your permission to come over to down under?_" Jake made a really bad pun.

"You don't need it, but you have it," Nerk responded. He was just about to turn off the holocaller when the the American dragon spoke again.

"_What do you mean, we don't need it?_" Jake's eyes narrowed, which looked really freaky over the holocaller.

Nerk sighed. There was no hiding his exile Dragon Council gave him. Nerk looked into the eyes of Jake's hologram and said, "I'm not the Australian dragon anymore, mate."

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Hunter's chambers- 06:30 p.m._

"_I'm not the Australian dragon anymore, mate._"

_I'm not the Australian dragon anymore. _The words rang loud and clear in Jake's ears. Fred Nerk was deadly serious- he didn't use any of his usual 'Aussie' slang when he made that comment. Jake was confused. Was there a double meaning behind his words?

"I'm not sure what you mean. You're a dragon. You're Australian. You were the first dragon born in Australia. That makes you the Australian dragon."

"_The Dragon Council stripped me of my title. They didn't take away my dragon chi, but I can't have contact with anyone inside the magical world. I can't go to Draco Island anymore either._"

"But you're talking with me right now," Jake said.

"_But you're not on Draco Island or Magicville or any other magical hideouts, are you?_" Nerk countered.

"Are you still allowed to protect the country?" asked Jake.

"_Well, they can't stop me from doing so_," replied Fred Nerk, _"but they don't help me anymore or tell me where people are going to strike next, if that's what you mean._"

"Why?" Jake suddenly wanted to know.

"_I made a choice, and I'm still glad I made it_," responded Nerk almost defensively, "_There was a team of sprites in trouble. I chose to save them instead of taking down the monster that attacked them in the first place. That's the short story, at least._"

"Wow," was all Jake could say.

Nerk seemed disappointed, "_So you're on their side?_"

Jake was shocked that Nerk would think such a thing. He respected the Dragon Council fine, just not what their opinion of Nerk's decision. He replied, "NO! The Councilors are idiots for thinking what they did." Jake paused, "The Dragon Council didn't call you about the situation, did you?"

"_No_," Nerk answered.

"They're so arrogant that they can't turn to much- needed help when the need it!" Jake was infuriated.

Nerk said nothing.

"How about this- you meet us and the rest of the magical creatures at the Great Barrier Reef at seven fifteen. You can join our group when we fight the rest of the Huntsclan."

"_But I told you, mate, I can't go to anywhere completely magical._"

"And I told you that the lunar eclipse is happening in Hong Kong," Jake smirked, having won the non- argument, "So what do you say, Nerk? Are you up for it?"

"_Knowing you, mate, you would have said something about me being too chicken_," Nerk joked, "_But I'm in, Long. I'll do it._"

"Sweet. I'll see you in forty- five minutes. Or will it take you longer to fly there?" Jake made a comment on when they raced. He switched off the holocaller before Nerk could reply.

_New York, Spudinski Resistance- 07:00 p.m._

_I wonder how he's doing_, thought Spud He, of course was Jake. Jake had been in the Huntsclan facility for over a week now. Spud couldn't hack his way into the Huntsclan security system to find out. Spud dismissed the thought of Jake. He could take care of himself.

Spud was ready for a date. With none other than Stacey Wintergreen. Yes, they were still privately dating. Privately, as in sneaking in janitors' closets and behind garbage cans. As he reached the door, his phone rang. "Hello?"

"_Yo, Spudinski, it's Trix._"

"Hey Trix. What's up?"

"_What 'ya doin'?_"

"I'm about to go on a date with Stace," he replied.

"_So Stacey is finally going to go out on a real date with you in public?_"

"Real date, yes. Public, not so much. I have to meet her in the air vents of the local Cathedral."

"_Man, you have to stop seeing someone who isn't proud of you! If she won't go out with you in public, she's embarrassed of you. You don't deserve her. If I were you, I'd dump her right now. I mean, it's been six years and the closest she's gotten to a real date with you is being your junior graduation partner!_"

"I guess you're right." Spud hung up the phone and left the solace of his house to do something very scary- dump the most popular girl leaving high school.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Main Auditorium- 06:45 p.m._

88 and 89 were going on a double shift. They were going to join Hunter and Huntress on their shift as new slayers, or as they told Huntsmaster. In truth, they were going for a meeting in between a group of magical creatures.

They decided not to change their names. They would be 88 and 89 forever. It was their first 'given' name, and they weren't going to change it no matter what. They did agree to change the costume, though.

Hunter, or Jake, didn't understand. He didn't get why they wanted to keep _numbers_for names. But Huntress, or Rose, did. She knew what names could mean and what they stood for. Just like Huntsgirl held a lot of memories, so did the names _88_ and_ 89_. As they jumped on their hoverboards they activated their Huntstaff teleporters one by one. 88 went first, and said,

"Australia, here we come."

* * *

A/N (5): The story of Sedna is a popular Inuit legend. Yes, I know I'm somewhat obsessed with Inuit legends. I'm also obsessed with Norse and Babylonian mythology, I'm bored of Greek, Roman, and Celtic.  I'd explain the legend, but it's very well known, and I don't want to take up THAT much space with my auther's notes.

A/N (6): A holocaller is an old science fiction invention- I just gave it a different name. Basically, it portrays a hologram of whoever you're speaking with, so it seems like you're speaking with a blue- tinted miniature (or life size depending on the setting) version of the receiver.

A/N (7): 'Aussie' is Australian slang for, well, Australian. Yes, Melbourne is a city in Australia. It's actually a state capital- I looked it up on Wikipedia, I don't care if it's inaccurate and anyone can change it. Yes, posse is Australian slang for position. It's actually pronounced, 'PO-zee'. I chose Australia because it's the only country with a dragon that I know is related to that country. Also because it's my favourite inhabited country; it's tied with Japan and Canada (my favourite country of all time would be Antartica, but it's uninhabited). Sorry, I just got off topic there.  
- Wikipedia is untrustworthy. Anyone can change the information. It says that Sydney is _not_the capital city there, when everyone knows it is. Sydney is also not the greatest populated city there. No offense to the designers of Wiki- I know you had good intentions.

A/N (8): I have no idea what that thing between Spud and Stacey was there. Let's just say that Spud was dumped by Stacey for Brad right before he got a chance to dump her. Let's see what happens next…


	9. Australia

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Damn. I hate school. Okay, no, I don't, but it's restricting my time on this story, which happens to be my first fanfic, so don't judge me. Hopefully I can update once a month (at least), and finish by the end of December. In the meantime, review! It keeps me going to know that people care enough to comment. Don't you think it sucks that AD:JL only has two seasons and 52 episodes? And I mean with those fifteen- minute double episodes counting as two.

A/N (2): Whoops. I just realized that I spelled 'residence' as 'resistance' for the past seven chapters and prologue. Meh. I'll keep it that way. Deal with it. I forget what the Seven Natural Wonders of the World are (I can remember the wonders of the Ancient, Medieval, and Modern World), but I do know that Niagara Falls is one of them. The Grand Canyon is supposed to be the eighth wonder (even though Hell's Canyon is deeper). Great Barrier Reef, I'm not so sure.

A/N (3): A while back, a guy named Thomas asked me to incorporate him in my story as Jake's cousin. I told him that I wasn't planning on having any OC's in the story. Apparently, I lied. Because the new Huntsmaster, in a sense, is my OC. And there's three other OC in the story as well. THEY'RE NOT MARY SUE'S OR GARY STU'S, I PROMISE! They're news reporters, working for _Hong Kong News_, a television news broadcasting station. And, as an apology to Thomas, I'll name one of the characters after him. Let's just say that Thomas is an immigrant from Greenland, Billy Yan (whose name is a pun on the word 'billion') is a native Chinese who knows minimal English, and Li Yu is a native Chinese who happens to be fluent in many languages other than Cantonese. The part is at the end, which I added a while after publishing the original Chapter 8.

A/N (4): This chapter will contain kind of a recap, and is kinda another filler. The action (and somewhat philosophic angst) comes in the next chapter, then in the epilogue. I just realized that I wrote Jake OOC, but I'll keep it as a sign of his maturity. And there's too much dialogue. And 89 is somewhat OOC too… As well as the Huntsmaster (even though he is kinda my OC, remember the Huntsman died?).

* * *

Chapter 8- Australia

_The Great Barrier Reef, Australia- 07:15 p.m._

Fred Nerk flew along the shorelines of Australia until he reached the Great Barrier Reef. Four people in maroon Huntsclan uniforms were already there waiting for them. One of them was holding the ice rune of the Ankh.

"Hey, Nerk," called Jake as he climbed on a Huntsboard to fly up and greet him.

"What's up, Long?"

Another person wearing a cloak- Nerk guessed it was a wizard- floated up next to them. "Hey, I'M the only one who calls him Long," he said, gesturing to Jake.

"Nigel, meet Fred Nerk. Nerk, this is Nigel Thrall. He's a British sorcerer," Jake introduced the two of them, "He used to go to Fillmore with me when we were in eighth grade."

_Okay, so I was off a little bit about the wizard thing_, thought Nerk.

Jake, however, wasn't finished talking. He turned to Nigel, "Nerk is the Australian Dragon. That is, until the Dragon Council stripped him of that title. Now he just protects the island without other magical help."

"Good to meet you, mate," said Nerk.

"Likewise, Nerk," Nigel stuck out his hand, which Nerk took. The three of them went back on solid ground.

"What, too lazy to use your wings, Long?"

The girl in the maroon Huntsclan uniform held a checklist as she checked off the last name on the list, "They're all here, Jake!" she called.

Everyone was gathered in a circle. Jake didn't bother with introductions as he started explaining the plan. Nerk knew some of the story already, but decided to hear it again.

"A while ago, I was taken by the Huntsclan because my fuzzy blurry birthmark had cleared. You guys know how the 'mark of the Huntsclan' is a dragon, right? Well, it cleared out into a dragon shape. So the Huntsclan took me when I was swimming and made me one of them. After I officially became one of the slayers, I found out that Rose was there, in the same facility. We found a plan by the Huntsmaster to eliminate all magical creatures.

"The Huntsmaster wants to gain access to all seven of the runes of the Ankh. 88 and 89, who recently joined our side, have comfirmed their plan, as did Rotwood."

At this Nigel gasped, "Rotwood? _Hans _Rotwood? As our old mythobiology teacher?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention that Hans Rotwood is teaching at the Huntsclan Academy, on my recommendation," Jake smirked, "He's a real loon, but at least the Huntsclan won't find out anything new from him.

"Um, what are the runes of the Ankh?" asked a girl that looked about twenty, "I was confined from a lot of things, being a nyx and all."

"Uh, sorry, Jasmine," Jake apologized. Nerk saw Rose's eyes flash with jealousy for a few seconds as Jake continued, "There are seven runes of the Ankh. The Ankh is a powerful magical item used by the Egyptian gods, and it's hidden in another dimension. There is only one Ankh left in all the dimensions, the others were all destroyed. The runes can gain access to anything less powerful than it, in any dimension, which is basically everything. They can also transport things, or people, to any place, any dimension.

"Anyway, we found out that the Huntclan is going the get the seven runes. This is one of them," Jake held up the ice rune, "no doubt he's going to get the other four- he already has the first three, this included- by next week.

"The Huntsmaster is going to use the seven runes to gain access to the Ankh. He's going to use the Ankh to try to make the Huntsclan immortal. That's impossible, though, since using the Ankh on mortals only makes them less vulnerable. But we still need to be careful of their near invulnerability.

"After he's used the Ankh, he'll use the runes to transport the Huntsclan to The Isle of Draco in a few days from now, when the thousand year toast is happening. Every dragon in the world is going to be there at the eclipse, and that's when the Huntsmen strike. The temple in Draco Island is going to be in Hong Kong this year. They have to use the runes to transport themselves there; the regular teleporters will be blocked by the natural magical shield.

"If they win the battle, there will be no dragons left to protect the magical universe. Then, the Huntsclan can pluck the rest of the magical creatures off the face of the earth."

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" demanded a person in the circle Nerk didn't recognize.

"I _meant_ that one magical creature against a large group of Huntsmen has no chance," replied Jake.

"So what's the plan?" Nerk asked.

"I was getting to that," Jake was becoming irritated, "you guys, along with some other people that Fu knows, are going to crash the toast, right after the Huntsclan crashes it. We," he gestured to Huntress, 88, and 89, "are going to be with the Huntsclan. All of us, together, are going to keep the battle going as long as possible, until the eclipse ends. When it does, the good guys fly, or walk, out, and the Huntsclangetstuck in the vortex! It's take them through the fabric of space and time, and they'll deteriorate in the middle of the trip, even with the Ankh's near invulnerability. The Ankh and temple will survive the trip, and they'll end up in the Isle of Draco again.

"We've informed everyone else who's on our side about the plan. Clear?"

Everyone nodded. They all left the place except for the Nerk, Nigel, Jake, 88, 89, and Rose.

"Why are you guys still here?" Nerk asked them.

"Dunno," answered 89. Suddenly, a beep was sounded from his belt. "Oh! It's time for my date with 89?"

"_Saywhatnow_?" blurted 88.

"What?" said Jake.

"You two are _gay_?" Rose was just as surprised.'

"I don't like the word _gay_," Nigel commented with a dignified air, "_Bi_ and _homosexual_ are much more preferable."

"Dude, since when are we- I mean- but" 88 was at a loss for words

89 burst out laughing, "We're not! Hahahaha! Gotcha all!"

"Dude, it was _so_ not funny!" 88 hit him on the arm.

"Was so doofus!"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"88!" 89 said in reply as he rolled his eyes and jumped on his Huntsboard. 88 flew off, with 89 not far behind, chasing him.

"When you guys get tired, teleport or fly to the Huntslair!" Jake called after them.

"Should I be surprised?" Nigel asked.

"Nope," Jake and Rose chanted in unison.

"They trade off banter all the time," Rose added.

"Yo, are we just having a get-together or something?" asked Nerk.

"Maybe…"

"Well, if we are, then I'm sorry to interrupt it," said Nigel seriously. "You realize that there's more to the Huntsclan than the American division, right?"

Jake gasped, "You're right! The Huntsclan is a world organization, and that means… that means that we'll have fifty times as many slayers to fight as we foresaw from other countries."

"Actually, more. There are more than fifty countries."

"True, but the really small countries, in size, have mixed groups so they won't have to travel as far in their countries," replied Jake. "What? I looked it up in the Huntsclan Library."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Nerk asked. The group puzzled over it before Jake said,

"We have to go with the flow, no matter what happens. It's our own fault that we forgot to acknowledge it." Under his breath, he added, "And we're going to have to take some desperate measures."

_New York, Spudinski Resistance- 08:00 p.m._

Spud felt good. He finally felt free from Stacey. He had taken Trixie's advice gone to dump Stacey, but she beat him to it. She broke up with him in her uncaring manner for Brad, the rich jock, without knowing that Spud had the same intentions. And, well, being without Stacey made him feel like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. No more hiding out in trash cans, no more dancing in janitors' closets. Contrary to other people, Arthur P. Spudinski did not care about having the last say in things. The only thing he regretted was not doing leaving her sooner.

But despite Spud's freedom, he he couldn't stop wondering, what was Brad going to do with Stacey? The two of them, though perfect for each other, were both airheads. They were both shallow and stuck up, it was just that they showed their arrogance differently. Spud grinned thinking of what they would do on their dates. Brad would probably try one of his pickup lines on her, and Stacey would giggle. Pickup lines only worked on Stacey when certain people said them. Spud felt certain that they would have a few good dates without much meaning, then suddenly, feelings would blossom. Even though they had huge heads full of air, they did have feelings. Spud was surprising happy for them.

Spud still had the feelings of satisfaction of being away from Stacey. Sooner or later, though, that feeling would be pushed aside. What was he going to do then? Before, all his free time was spent hiding out with Stacey. Now, he was bored. Earlier than when he even met Stacey, he spent all his time, free or not, with Jake and Trixie helping Jake with his 'dragon business'. Even earlier than that, before he and Trixie found out Jake's secret, he spent his time playing video games and at the skate park with Trixie, and occasionally Jake, who was always 'working' at Lao Shi's shop.

_Jake_. He was still at the Huntslair. Who knows what he was doing in Huntsclan HQ. He knew about Jake's plan to take down the Huntsclan, but he was still worried. He felt as if he was missing something…

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntsmaster's office- 10:30 p.m._

Huntress, 88, 89, and Hunter stood in Huntsmaster's office. They had just presented him with the ice rune of the Ankh. Nevertheless, he was still unhappy.

"Why did it take you so long to get back here?" he roared.

Thinking quickly, Jake replied, "Well, it only took us thirty minutes to find and retrieve the rune, Master. But we decided to fly back rather than using the teleporters." In truth, Jake and Rose had been talking with Nerk and Nigel for quite some time about current events when 88 and 89, back from their banter trade-off, joined them. A while later, they noticed the time and quickly transported back to the Huntslair.

"The Huntsclan teleportation log shows that teleporters number 980, 990, 1023, and 1024 were just used. Those four Huntstaffs are yours!

"Um, we decided to use the teleporters when we saw it was getting late?" It was half of the truth, decided 88.

"Time is important," chastised the Master, "You must never do something as foolish again. Your punishment will be one hundred eighty lashes, I don't care how you divide them."

The four infiltrators were led into the torture chamber. They huddled, and quickly decided they would receive forty-five lashes each; it was only fair. When they came out, they were red in many places. The four of them went to their respective rooms to get some peace and quiet after the night.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Hunter's chambers- 12:00 a.m._

The lashes hurt! It was bad that the Huntsclan believed in corporal punishment, he would have to be more careful. He was lucky he didn't have to do patrol afterwards.

Jake was on the magical internet, the Ethernet. He found some wires and a motherboard in the Huntslair, and he built himself a computer, even though he already had one in his room. It worked off the Huntsclan frequencies so they couldn't detect him when he was on the Ethernet.

In fact, he wasn't just anywhere on the Ethernet, he was on the villains' speciality site- the magical evildoers' deepweb. The Dragon Council didn't know about it, neither did the regular magical council. It was a deep secret. Jake was on by fluke, he misspelled the MRL (magical resource locater) and it took him to the villain deepweb blog. The security was surprisingly loose. No passwords, riddles, puzzles, anything.

Jake signed in under the surname, AmDragSux, with the password POIUYT. It was a trick Spud had learned, and taught him, when the human was online. If you signed in anywhere with that username and password, a glitch would happen and you would be allowed in. How Spud found out, Jake never knew.

Jake remembered his own words in Australia. _We're going to have to take some desperate measures_, he had said. What he wanted to do was alert the entire magical community, but Jake didn't want to involve magical civilians, so he settled for the magical delinquents and criminals. Jake was originally going to spread the word to Bananas B, the little traitor monkey via human e-mail. However, a villains only blog would spread the message faster. After all, there's no better way to travel than by word of mouth, right?

Jake finished anonymously posting the current situation on the blog. It told them everything about the runes to the eclipse. Now he just had to wait and hope they would fall for it.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 01:00 a.m._

Rose contemplated the situation. Jake was the Tie between the magical and human worlds. Did that mean that the human world would find out about magical creatures at the end of all this? What would happen if they did? And, even though this didn't have to do with anything, why do magical creatures know about humans, but most humans didn't know about magical creatures?

The ex- huntsgirl flopped down in her bed and tore her mask off. She heard someone knock the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's Jake. Can I come in?"

"Sure." The door opened up to reveal Jake in full uniform. Jake entered and sat down beside her. The two of them remained in their positions for a while before Rose muttered, "Awkward…"

"I'll bet."

"Rose, look. I came here… to ask you something."

"Go ahead." Rose bit her lip.

Jake peeled his mask off slowly. "I know we've only been on, what, two dream dates? So I just came to ask you, do you want to go out if we survive this? And not in another dream- in real life. I know this really cool Indian restaurant—"

Rose was expecting something along the lines of this. "I'd love to. We'll work out the details _when_ all this is over." She sat up and hugged him.

"Good," said Jake, returning the hug. "Hey, do you want to visit Rotwood in his office today and interrogate the hell out of him?"

"It would be cool to see his reaction when I remind him of being knocked over by one of his old students."

"HEY!"

**_The Next Day_**

_Hong Kong, Hong Kong News - 09:00 a.m._

"_BRIINNG!_" The phone rang in the small office of a reporter working for the Hong Kong News Station. Billy Yan picked it up.

"_Ni hao_," Billy said _hello_ in Mandarin.

"_Yes, I would like to give an anonymous tip on the existence of magical creatures_," came a voice with a German accent.

"Sorry, me no speak Eng-lish. YU!" Billy called the interpreter.

_Click_. Li Yu activated another phone line, "_Hello_?'

"_Yes, I would like to give an anonymous tip on the existence of magical creatures_," repeated the obviously German man.

"_Continue_," said Yu after translating what he said to Billy Yan.

"_There will be a battle between magical creatures and the Huntsclan_."

"_Excuse me, but what is the Huntsclan_?"

"_The Huntsclan is a group of slayers that want to hunt down and kill all magical creatures_," said the man with a superior air. "_They will be fighting at the highest peak of Hong Kong tomorrow night. You must see it._"

"_Sir, we've had a number of conspiracies involving killers lately_," Yu made this part up as the man was most likely delusional. "_As well as being the interpreter for this news station, I am also the conspiracy theorist. And your story, well, sounds a lot like a conspiracy._"

"_I assure you, this is one hundred percent accurate_," insisted the man.

Yu translated what the man had said to Billy. They conversed for a while before finally deciding to take the tip. As incredible as Billy thought this was, they hadn't had an extraordinary report in ages, and if they could get this story, if found true, onto the air, they could make big bucks.

"_We will look into your theory._"

"_Thank you._" With that, the person on the phone hung up.

Billy Yan and Yu Li discussed for several minutes how they were going to reach the peak of GaoShan, the the highest mountain in all of Hong Kong.

"Well, my family is visiting from Canton this week and they always wanted to go hiking. I could take them there, and take my equipment, too," suggested Yu.

"But you're not even supposed to go on air," argued Billy.

"So I'll take, I don't know, Thomas with me. His family is also visiting from Greenland, we could go together."

Billy finally relented, and they went to talk to their boss and Thomas. The boss and Thomas agreed due to the lack of views their station was receiving lately, and they now had a story on their hands.

* * *

A/N (5): Well, that's that. Again, I don't know what the thing about Spud was. A filler within a half filler? Anyway, Spud's my favourite character, not enough people spend tome in his brain. In fact, there aren't that many stories that focus solely on Spud. I've seen, like, one. And I'm not going to say which one, for fear of advertising. This story is NOT a walking billboard, people!

A/N (6): In the show, they called the magical Internet the Magical Internet. I'm calling it the Ethernet. It's what the DC Comics calls it, even though it is a totally different universe than this. The pop culture multiverse is weird, huh?

A/N (7): Oooh… foreshadowing… if you guys don't know, or forget, where, I'm not going to tell, or remind you.

A/N (8): I'm just saying this for the sake of saying this- Gao Shan means 'Tall Mountain' in Mandarin Chinese. So, GaoShan is Hong Kong's tallest mountain. And yes, I know that Cantonese is mainly spoken in Hong Kong, but I'm not from there or Canton, I don't know Cantonese. Only barely enough Mandarin to get me by in China.

A/N (9): Yes, I understand that this is shorter than some of the other chapters. There's only a little over 3000 words. Why? Because of the lack of reviews. Reviews tell me that people actually read my story and that they care enough to say they like or hate it. It's like the fuel for me to keep me going. So now that you've read it, now hit the button!


	10. Wait

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: I had to go back to the last chapter and add something to the end. So if you wouldn't mind, could you go back and read it?

A/N (2): Here it is… Chapter 9. I'm really getting tired of stories of where the good guys win, but since I don't feel like changing the plot, the good guys are still gonna win. 'Cause I won't have a sequel.

A/N (3): Li Yu, the interpreter, was often, and will continue to be referred as to just 'Yu'. That's because, in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan people often say their last names before their first names. Li is her last name, Yu is her first. I just wanted to say that I named Li Yu after my friend/ rival. Here, in Canada, she goes by the name Laura.

A/N (4): The Huntsclan is weird. I mean, they hate magical creatures, yet they still use magical items. Even if it is to get rid of magical creatures. Isn't that weird?

* * *

Chapter 9- Wait

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntress' quarters- 11:00 a.m._

Rose lay in bed. It was the day of the eclipse. The day of the thousand year toast. She needed to be rested for the night. So she tried to sleep.

However, she couldn't fall asleep into a deep, fitful slumber. She would fall into the _alpha_ stage once in a while, then come back to the _beta_ stage. Of course, being a Huntsman, she was trained to never to go anywhere past the _theta_ stage. She had broken her training with her dream charm, since she needed to go to the deepest stage of sleep to use the charm- _delta_.

Rose wanted to fall into the _alpha_ stage, then into the _theta_ stage, then back into _alpha_ before waking up to _beta_. It was what her subconscious was trained to do. Today, though, she couldn't even go past the start of _alpha_. It felt like she was daydreaming, without the dreams.

Rose didn't want to use her dream charm- she didn't want to control her dreams. She didn't want her dreams to be lucid. She didn't want the dreams to be recurring. She didn't want to remember her dreams at all during that time. She couldn't accomplish this, though, if she wasn't asleep.

She concentrated on the ticking of her Huntsclock. She tried to lull herself asleep with the sound. She went into the _alpha_ stage again, with a trance. When she came out of that trance of extremely light sleep, she waited.

She waited for sleep. And she waited for the battle.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Huntsmaster's quarters- 12:00 p.m._

Hunstsmaster _did_ have a room, contrary to popular belief. There was a secret door and passageway in his office that lead to them. Also contrary to popular belief, he did eat, sleep, relieve himself, and get sick. He was, after all, only human.

Yet, despite being human, he had trained himself and adapted to need less than the average human did. He was used to eating only when he needed to and NOT breakfast, lunch,and dinner, sleeping less than four hours a day, and holding it in when he needed to. And even though he did get sick, he did not get sick as much as some of the trainees or even the other Huntsmen.

Huntsmaster was, you could almost say, superhuman. However, he still had the genetic build of a human, which made him a regular human in the physical sense. Being a 'regular' human, he couldn't time travel, or even make time go by faster. Even though he had all seven runes, and the Ankh itself, which he used to make the Huntsclan stronger.

Huntsmaster, for the first time in a long time, was bored and impatient. Still he had to wait. So he did. He waited for the time of the eclipse to come, and he waited for the destruction of all magical creatures.

Even though he almost couldn't.

_Hong Kong - 01:00 p.m. (EST)_

Every dragon was in Hong Kong. Even Fred Nerk, and the Long family. They were waiting for the eclipse. They all had their excuses to leave their countries for the toast. Visiting family, business, etc.

They almost wished that humans knew about magical creatures. After all, not all humans are bloodthirsty magic- haters, just the Huntsclan. They were anxious. Because, like the Huntsmaster, they could not speed up time or jump forward through it. Even if they could, they would not take the chance in which they could create a time, even space, paradox for that.

They waited too. They were all waiting. Along with the magical creatures who awaited for the destruction of the Huntsclan. They didn't know what would happen. They had to wait and see. Just like everyone else.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Rotwood's office- 02:00 p.m._

Professor Rotwood leaned back in his chair and smirked. He had called the _Hong Kong News _about five hours ago and they were going to broadcast the fight, live, to the entire world. Well, just to anyone who was watching the news, as that specific news channel broadcasted worldwide.

Why had he done it anonymously? If anyone in the Huntsclan found out, they would have his head- literally. If Jake found out, he would do something slightly drastic. Either way, he did not want to be found out.

Now, all he had to do was wait. Wait, just as the Huntsclan was waiting. Wait, just as Jake, Rose, 88, and 89 were waiting. Wait, just as the Dragon Council and the rest of the magical creatures were waiting. Except he was waiting for something different. He was waiting for the exposure of magical creatures.

_Jake's Dream_

Jake dug deep in his subconscious. He wanted to know what 'being the Tie' really meant. Though, diving into the deepest parts of his mind didn't give him the answer. He wasn't keeping any secrets from himself there.

He, was, however keeping another deep secret from himself. Along the path of his memories and dreams, he saw an image of his grandfather saying, "Is this what you really want, young dragon? To destroy the Huntsclan?" It was not a memory, so Jake knew that it was his subconscious talking. He knew what it was saying, too.

At first, Jake thought he had Stockholm Syndrome. When he thought more about it, though, he realized that it was not Stockholm Syndrome, just that he did not want to kill the entire Huntsclan. Huntsman's death had been accidental. He was raised not to kill, but to protect. Or was it just his calling the villains to help?

Jake continued to think on the matter, as well as 'being the Tie', as he slumbered in his _delta_ stage.

Now, Jake was also waiting while he was sleeping, just like the others. But unlike the others, he had something to do as he waited.

_Lair of the Dark Dragon- 04:00 p.m._

The Dark Dragon, along with Chang and Bananas 'B were getting ready. The post on the blog was probably faulty, made by an amateur villain wannabe. After all, he or she, or even if it was more than one person, did call themselves 'AmDragSux', which was obviously short for 'American Dragon Sucks'. Even though that was completely true, the username showed signs of a rank amateur.

Then there was the possibility of it being a trap set by the Huntsclan to actually get rid of all magical villains so they could focus on the magical heroes. Then again, how would they have hacked onto the Ethernet, much less the Villains' speciality site created by the 'Double D' himself?

The Dark Dragon was training. And waiting. Because tonight, he was going to help the side of good.

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 08:40 p.m. (EST)_

Everyone was still waiting as the moon started to rise in the sky above the peak of GaoShan Mountain. As the time passed, a shadow started to cover part of the moon, and a portal began to open.

* * *

A/N (5): Well, this was supposed to be the last chapter before the Epilogue, but obviously I decided against that. So there will be one more chapter coming up before the Epilogue.

A/N (6): Again, it was much shorter, but this was more of a teaser. You pretty much could have skipped this chapter for the story to still make sense. You know how the last time shown was 8:40 p.m. EST? The next chapter will start about four hours before that. Hmmm… am I just making excuses for the shortness of this chapter? Of course, quantity is not quality.

A/N (7): You know the drill. I'll try to post the next chapter within the month. However, writing this impromptu chapter was _not_ part of the original plan. Which is why I'm trying to stay on schedule. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a sudden case of writer's block and put the story on hiatus.


	11. Battle

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Well, here it is. The climax of the story. I had a hell of a time writing this. The only reason I'm doing this so quickly is because my family and I are moving in about a month and once I move, it'll be ages until we get settled enough to actually reinstall the computer. And yes, I realize that the fighting and 'stuff' is very cliché. Hey, at least I didn't call Jake the 'Chosen One' or something like that. But is 'Dragon marked dragon' any different?

A/N (2): I forgot to mention that the things about the stages of sleep were completely true. I'm huge on psychology and philosophy, sadly I'm not a psychologist, even though you could call me a philosopher.

A/N (3): I finally found out, by fluke, what the seven natural wonders of the world were: Victoria Falls, Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), Grand Canyon, the Himalayas, the Great Barrier Reef, the Paricutín volcano, and the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. I'm not going to go back and change anything, though. You can use your imagination to remake it so it makes sense.

* * *

Chapter 10- Battle

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 04:40 p.m._

"Ready?"

"More than ever," Haley replied. The magical creatures Fu had contacted were gathered in a clearing at a trail leading to the top of GaoShan Mountain. It would take some time to assemble them all so they could see the peak of the mountain, and not be seen by anyone else. They had to be in positions so they could dart out and attack at any given moment.

There were brushes along the side of the peak clearing. They had to strategically manoeuver the people so they weren't sucked in the portal or crushed by the temple as the vortex opened itself. Haley and Sun were also assigned to assemble the various magical creatures into squads. Considering how much of the magical community was there, that was a pretty tough job.

That wasn't what they were doing at the moment, though. They were going through basic battle tactics and strategies. They were doing this to save all the magical creatures of the earth. A lot of the people there were amateur fighters, so they had to go through more than, 'hit first, reason later.'

Haley really didn't want to battle the Huntsclan here, at this time. Why? They had a time limit if they did it on GaoShan Mountain at the time of the eclipse. But it was the only way to ensure safety for the magical community from the Huntsclan permanently.

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Main Auditorium- 05:50 p.m._

"Kee- yah!" cried Huntress along with every other person as she thrust forward in her battle stance. Every single Huntsman in the district was in the room, training. The Huntsclan had the power of the Ankh with them. Neither Jake or she had found a way to stop they Ankh from being in use. The magical creatures would have to fight the entire Huntsclan, meaning the all the branches. Jake had told her and the new slayers that not all the magical creatures were fighters. Rose wondered how they would hold up with a couple hundred thousand near invulnerable slayers.

Like the magical creatures, the Huntsmen also had to get into squads. The Huntsmaster figured since she and Hunter have already been on patrol together, they would be in the same squad. Their job was to take care of the magical creatures that were able to manipulate humans. Personally, she was glad to get the job. It meant the possessors were able to do what they were meant to do without as much interference.

_**Three Hours Later**_

The Huntsmaster used the runes of the Ankh to transport them to GaoShan Mountain. After all, according to Rotwood, it was where the battle was going to take place.

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 08:50 p.m._

"We now toast to another thousand years of peace and prosperity among dragonkind and magical creatures!" announce Councillor Kulde.

A flash of light illuminated across the eclipsed sky. "And I toast to the destruction of all magical creatures!" The Huntsclan dropped out of the sky and landed swiftly on the ground. A few moments later, another blinding flash of light shone, and the rest of the world's slayers appeared, holding various weapons.

"Aww, the American Dragon didn't even show up!" said the Huntsmaster. "And here I was, hoping to slay him."

Ignoring the Huntsmaster's taunts, the entire dragon community turned into their dragon forms with a unified "Dragon up!" But before they could do anything else, a voice came from the midst of the crowd,

"You're wrong, Huntspunk. I _am _here. Dragon UP!" Jake Long, the American dragon, burst triumphantly out of the huge crowd of Huntsclan with his signature battle cry. "Oh, and try not to steal my line," he said to the group of dragons.

"We're not done." Spud and Trixie came out of the bushes with Haley Long and a large hoard of magical creatures. They stood there, in a glaring contest, Huntsclan against magical creatures, until all hell broke loose.

Without any more words, they began to fight. Series of uppercuts, rabbit punches, roundhouses, hooks, and aerobic maneouvers were made as the thought heroes and villains battled each other. As the Huntsmaster of the American branch of the Huntsclan wished for, he got to fight his mortal enemy.

The Huntsmaster saw the dragon mark on the 'Dragon marked dragon'. "TRAITOR!" he roared.

"Not really," quipped Rose, who had risen on her Huntsboard. "Hi-YA!" she yelled, kicking him in the ribs.

"Nice!" 88 and 89 floated up and hi- fived her. "You totally kicked his ass!"

"He may not be the traitor, but you three are! Hey! What-" said the Huntsmaster as he was scooped up by Jake.

"You may be my mortal enemy, but I'm not going to let you die. I was born to protect, not kill," Jake paused. "Oh, and do you have _any_idea how bad that line was?" asked Jake before knocking the Huntsmaster unconscious.

"Shut up."

_Hong Kong, Hong Kong News- 09:00 p.m._

"Hey! Take a look at this footage!"

The staff at the Hong Kong News broadcasting station scurried over to see what was so interesting. The footage showed an image of a large group of people wearing ninja- like outfits fighting what seemed to be dragons, unicorns, elves, leprechauns, goblins, and witches.

"Great. You used some weirdo western program to create this illusion. Get back to work!" The manager was clearly irritated.

"Bossman, this isn't something random! This is _live footage_! Remember when Yu and Tom went to investigate? It turns out that it wasn't a hoax! The man on the phone was right!" Billy Yan was excited at this.

The manager, better known as Bossman to his employees, pretended to ponder. "Oh, yes. The men and women in the maroon suits must be the Huntsclan you were talking about. All right, since we have nothing better to broadcast, we can finish the current broadcast and air this live." He turned to Billy, "But if we ever find this is a conspiracy, you're fired!"

Billy inwardly rolled his eyes, "Yes, Bossman."

The video was transmitted to the public. One by one, the civilians of Hong Kong began to turn on their televisions. As the minutes passed, the people of the small country spread the news, and soon everyone in China, Taiwan, and the neighbouring countries were aware. It would only be a matter of time before all of Asia knew about the magical creatures, and then the entire world.

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 09:05 p.m._

They were fighting. The Oracles were telling what was going to happen next. The goblins and trolls were bashing the Huntsclan in their heads. The naiads and water sprites were using their elements to help however they could. The mermaids and mermen, though not natural born fighters, used their tails and upper body strength to take out as many Huntsmen as possible. The fairies and sprites used their playful nature to concoct traps, with the help of the witches and wizards, for the Huntsclan. The dragons, after their surprise at seeing a lot more of the magical community than they had expected, also fought valiantly. In return, the Huntsclan responded in kind with blows, hits from Huntstaffs and Huntsbows, kicks, and punches. So, all in all, they were fighting.

"So, Nerk, you got a girlfriend?" asked Nigel. He and Fred Nerk had become fast friends since their last meeting, even though they maintained a rivalry.

"Nope. Why do you ask?" Nerk spoke in response as he punched a Huntsman, giving him a bloody nose.

"Oh, no reason."

Nerk's eyes drifted to Jasmine, the soul- sucking nyx, who was fighting in her human form as she couldn't transform because the moon was shadowed. "She's hot."

Nigel followed the trail that Nerk's eyes made, "She's probably taken. Forget about her- concentrate on the battle."

"What are you, my mother?"

"He's right," came a gravelly female voice.

"Chang!" said Nigel as he made a battle stance, "What are you doing here?"

"Assisting you," she replied nonchalantly as she swiped at a nearby Huntsman with her tail, "along with the rest of the evil community."

"Oh, okay. WHAT?" Nerk nearly freaked out. But Chang was gone. And true to her word, every magical criminal and villain he had ever fought was there. The Dragon Council and the other magical creatures stared in shock.

"What?" asked Fury, her snakes in her hair carrying her up.

"Yeah, don't we have a right to- uhh!" said Euryale as she was blasted in the back by a beam of green light.

"Enough chitchat! Let's finish this!" cried Vicki. At that, everyone snapped out of their trances and resumed the battle. Vicki then used her siren scream to make the males of the Huntsclan turn on the females.

"Ugh, I wish there was a portal that would suck them up right now," groaned Jonathan, oblivious to the plan, as he stood in the background with Trixie and Spud.

"That's the idea, Mr. L." replied Trixie. As she was speaking, a vortex opened as the shadow started to leave the moon. It swallowed the Temple and the Huntsmen within it. As the rest of the Huntsclan struggled to stay on the earth, most of the magical villains were sucked into it as well.

"TRAITORS!" yelled the Dark Dragon as he vanished into the portal.

"We never asked for you to come," shouted Nerk in reply over the roaring wind.

"Yes you did!" the Dark Dragon found a chance for the last words before he was gone with the rest of the magical villains.

"What was that about?" wondered Nigel.

"I don't know, Thrall."

_Lair of the Huntsclan, Rotwood's office- 09:30 p.m._

It worked! The whole world knew about the magical creatures, and it was all thanks to him. He would soon get his due credit. True, he wouldn't be the one to get the credit for exposing the magical creatures, but at least he would be proved right. For that, he would finally get what he deserved. After all, Jake _was_ the 'Dragon marked dragon' in the prophecy, and everyone knew that prophecies were inevitable.

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 09:30 p.m._

Most of the Huntsclan and the rest of the magical villains were in the vortex by now. But the rest of the Huntsclan wouldn't budge. The Huntsmaster was among them. Spud ran over and threw the Huntsmaster, with assistance from the roaring wind, toward the portal.

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me!" With that, Huntsmaster pulled Spud with him toward the swirling vortex.

"Spud! NO!" yelled Jake, but he wasn't able to stop Spud. Spud spiraled upwards toward the portal. The man known as Potato Head couldn't think of anything to say, so he said nothing.

Sun Park couldn't let one of her favourite former students die. She jumped up and grabbed him by the leg. But the pull of the vortex was too strong. She and Spud flew upwards into the portal that was going to travel back to the Isle of Draco. The portal closed just as Sun reverted back into her human form, wanting to see the magical community through human eyes one last time. The portal sealed one of Jake's best friends and his former home economics teacher into the fabric of space.

"SPUD!" sobbed Trixie, at the same time Haley cried for her dragon master. Of everyone there, those two cried the hardest. They wrapped each other in a comforting embrace. Jake and Rose joined in the group hug, looking for and providing solace. Susan and Jonathon also teared up at the loss of their children's friends.

The Huntsmen that had not been sucked up in the midst of the vortex were standing there, confused. _Was it possible the magical creatures were not all bad?_ they wondered as they watched the unmasked Jake, Rose, and the rest of the family embrace.

"What now?" asked a Huntsgirl that had just been promoted to slayer.

Jake- Hunter- replied, "We rebuild. Both the Temple and the Huntsclan. The Huntsclan was never meant for evil. It's just that, through the generations, it's become twisted. Look. I'm the dragon marked dragon." He showed them his dragon birthmark on his foot.

There were only about forty surviving Huntsmen. They agreed to rebuild. Even the councillors, who had read and learned the history, agreed. The Huntsclan was there to protect, alongside the magical creatures. The Council would be wary at first, but soon their trust would be earned. After all, it was what Jake's subconscious told him in the form of his grandfather.

"And the dragon mark doesn't mean anything any more. I mean, I have it, Rose has it, those two have it, and we disagree with the way of those people."

"We can't refer to each other by numbers or code names. That isn't fair."

One of the Huntsmen spoke up, "Our codes and numbers _are_ our real names. We don't know our given names, and even if we did, they wouldn't be real, since they aren't the ones we went by."

"See, that's what we meant," 88 said.

Before anyone could say anything more, a group of civilians came out of the blue. "This is Thomas Greenwich, live at the battle scene. Tell me, do you have anything to say about what just happened here?"

_New York, Morton Resistance- 10:00 p.m._

"Man! I can't believe that Jake Long is a dragon! Now I can't try to beat him up because he'll beat me up!"

"I can't believe his best friend and Ms. Park like, died."

"Nah, they probably went to, like, some paradise island or something."

"Girls, girls! And Brad. Let's stop being insensitive jerks and cry over their deaths!"

"And _then_ can we be insensitive jerks?"

"Sure." The old cheer squad and Brad turned their attention back to the TV.

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 10:00 p.m._

Jake was mad. "What the hell?!? My best friend, one of them, and my sister's dragon master just died and all you care about is your _stupid news station_?"

Before anyone could reply, there was a blinding flash of light and a puff of smoke.

"Okay, what is it with these flashes of light and puffs of smoke and evil laughs and inspiring speeches today? That is _so_ cliché!"

"Shut up, dad," said Jake.

"Language, young man."

The flash of light turned out to be a woman in a red gown wearing a tall hat. The smoke cleared to reveal a green- skinned man wearing a tall hat and a white jumpsuit.

"Your friends are not dead yet," spoke the woman.

"Who are you?" asked Rose.

"Well, from their appearances and clothes, I would assume that they are the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris," said Fu.

"Oh. So, um, are we supposed to bow or something? 'Cause I've never really interacted with gods before." Jake turned to the god of the Underworld and the Queen of the gods, "Why are you here?"

"We wanted to make you an offer. We cannot bring your friends back to this dimension, but we can ensure their safety throughout their travel within the continuity."

"How do we know that they're not dead?"

Osiris explained, "I am the god of the Underworld. They have not travelled there to take the test, and therefore they have not died yet. If they do die, then there is nothing we can do."

"Look, I know from experience that all magic has either a price or a catch. Usually both. What do you want in return?" demanded Jake.

"We cannot make it happen without a power source, as we are weak without the Ankh. We need the last Ankh for backup energy in case we need it," said Isis.

"Anything else?" Nigel wanted to know.

"And we only have enough power together to ensure the safety of one of your friends at a time. By the time we regain enough energy to do the other, they will be dead."

"How do we know this isn't a scam or bluff to get the last Ankh?" asked Rose.

Osiris lost his stotic composure and threw his hands in the air, "We're _gods_! And we're not _Greek_ gods who only care of their benefit or _trickster_ gods like Loki. Sure, we _have_ a evil trickster god, but he's not either of us! Doesn't that count for something?"

"Sure. And let me guess, Jake's the one who has to decide since he's the 'Dragon marked dragon'," Trixie rolled her eyes.

Isis smirked, "No, this time, let's make it you, Trixie Carter. You have ten minutes to ponder while everyone else freaks out about being on live television at this very moment."

Everyone whirled around to see Yu holding a video camera. Her family gave small waves and sheepish smiles as Trixie thought over whether to save Spud or Sun.

"And Jake? You made the right choice inviting the villains and destroying most of the Huntsclan. Your grandfather thinks so too," Osiris winked.

"That was you?" asked Nerk.

_**Five minutes later- 10:10 p.m.**_

"I'm sorry!" Trixie sobbed, "I can't do it. I can't choose."

"Trix! You have to!" cried Jake.

"Well, if you had just given the Ankh to them, they would have been fine," said Osiris.

"But you can't turn back time for us, either, can you?" yelled Trixie.

"No, but we can make your choice easier." Osiris handed Trixie a coin. "Flip it; and it'll tell you what you really want. If it lands heads, Arthur Spudinski will be safe. If it lands tails, Sun Park has our guaranteed protection."

"That's not it, though. I _know_ that it's Spud I want safe. He has more sentimental value to me than Sun. But there are people who care about Sun more. Like Haley. And I can't-" Trixie gulped, "-_kill_ Sun because I also care about her and the people who care about her."

"You just made your choice. Arthur Spudinski will remain safe." The god and goddess took the Ankh and disappeared again, in the same flash of light and poof of smoke.

Trixie fell to her knees, crying.

_Space- Time Continuum_

Everyone else had dissipated a long time ago. Only he and Sun were able to hold on. Spud didn't know how he did it, but he managed to stay in one piece without much effort.

"Let's hope we make it in one piece to the next dimension in one piece," he said.

"I… can't," whispered Sun, "You have to survive and live. For Jake and the others. You've obviously been god- protected, and I haven't."

"Sun! You can't go! I need at least one friendly face around where I'm going. And I don't even know where!"

"It's not for me to stay. Of them all, you were the most pure, not worrying about things like evil. You need to live in whichever world you end up in, whether it's in our original world, our dimension, Earth II, the void of nothingness where the Ankh was put, or Saturn."

"Sun, don't go all sentimental on me." But even as Spud spoke, she began to disintegrate into the nothingness.

"SUN!"

_Hong Kong, GaoShan Mountain- 10:45 p.m._

Most of the magical creatures had already left. All that was left was the Long family, Trixie, Nerk, and Nigel. Rose had gone with 88 and 89 to bring the Huntsclan back to the academy.

"I can't believe she's gone," whispered Haley. She whirled on Trixie. "You! It's all your fault she's gone!" Haley then realized what she had just said, and a new flow of tears began. "Oh my gosh, I'm so, _so_, sorry!" The two of them hugged each other again as Trixie started to cry again.

Jake was just looking down at the ground.

"Don't be so down, Long," said Nerk, "we won!"

"But at the what expense?" said Jake. "Not everyone deserves to be in that vortex. The hobgoblins just do what they're told, they're misinformed like most of the Huntsclan who also don't deserve to be in there. Vicki doesn't deserve to be in there either; she's just misunderstood. Bananas B was only trying to fend for himself when he joined Chang and the Dark Dragon. Eli Pandarus, well, okay, he _does_ deserve to be in there, but he plays a big part of human life; without him, parts of the economy would fall apart. So even though we won, we also lost.

"Not to mention I just lost Spud and Sun. Sure, Spud's not dead, but Sun is. Even though Spud _isn't_ dead, he's still gone. The chances that we'll get to see him again are like, zero! And what's worse, knowing that somebody's dead, or knowing that somebody's alive but gone from your life forever?"

"Long- Jake- I just lost them too. I was pretty close to Sun when we were at Fillmore. And I'm sure Nerk here misses Spud," said Nigel. "I was wondering, though, we were just on live television! The whole world knows about magical creatures!"

"I don't know about you, but _I'm_not worried about that. It was foretold in the prophecy. Plus, it'll be just like before the magical creatures were driven into hiding. Besides, now Rotwood will get his recognition. We have to move on," said Nerk.

"Nerk is right," agreed Nigel, "we do have to move on." Nigel's solemn face quickly turned into a quirky grin. "So, when are you going to ask Rose out?"

"I already did. Two days ago. Or was it yesterday? Or even before that? I can't remember. I told her I'd take her out after this is all over. And it is over now. But, with all of this, and the extra drama, I don't know if I'm ready yet."

"I'm sure she'll wait for you, mate. But don't keep her waiting too long. You're lucky to have a girl like her." Nerk smiled. With his two best friends from the magical community beside him, Jake grinned.

Trixie and Haley soon joined them, having gotten over their flow of waterworks.

"Aren't they sweet?" asked Jonathan, wrapping an arm around his wife.

"You _do_ realize that you're still on live television, right?" said someone from one of the other families.

Jake, overhearing, smiled. "Yup. And we don't care." He linked arms with his family, and Fu Dog walked beside them.

"Kid, you know that those two don't live with us, right?" asked Fu. Nerk and Nigel waved and grinned as they took of in the no longer eclipsed moonlit night sky.

Jake waved as he spoke, "All's well that ends well. Let's go home."

* * *

A/N (4): We'll, there's the end. This was the longest chapter yet. And probably ever in this fic. The epilogue will be up within two weeks. It was fun. Oh, and before I forget, I'm sorry that the fight scene was somewhat anti- climatic. Even though the fight really wasn't the climax… Hey, at least we have our happily ever after, right? Or as Jake says, "All's well that ends well."

A/N (5): In Jake's 'guy moment' with Nigel Thrall and Fred Nerk, I was going to have Nerk make a quip about Nigel being gay because he insists on referring to it as 'homosexual' instead of 'gay', which also means 'happy'. But I didn't feel like focusing that much on humour. And, if you male people don't actually _have_'guy moments' where you can actually be serious, you'll have to excuse me; I'm a girl.

A/N (6): Why did I kill Sun, you ask? Well, in the TV series, Sun was originally going to die in Homecoming, the episode that started this fic, but since AD:JL was rated C8, they decided against it. I'm just doing what they originally were going to do. (Actually, I couldn't decide between Spud and Sun, so I flipped a coin. I was also going to have Sun's dead body stay on Jake's dimension and the gang give her a funeral, but I decided against that too.) I'm expecting flames for the death of Sun.

A/N (7): In one of his reviews, Fudogg pointed out that I had a plothole. These were his exact words: _If this is an AU, then how did Chang and Bananas meet?_I just twisted the timeline a little so that the episodes not involving Rose directly still happened. If you noticed any plotholes within the fic, feel free to point them out. I'll explain them to you or fix them, or do both! I don't feel like making a 'Please Review' A/N, but know that flames, praise, and questions are welcome.


	12. Epilogue

**Jake in the Huntsclan**

A/N: Well, there's a load off my back. I'm actually glad to have this finished. Again, if there are any plot holes, feel free to tell me. Because I found a technical one:  
When the group was in Australia, it was summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore it was winter in the Southern Hemisphere, where Australia is. Therefore, the Great Barrier Reef should have been frozen over. Ah well. I'll just blame global warming. Heck, it _was_the ice rune. It's a good thing that Hong Kong is in the Northern Hemisphere.

A/N (2): Frozen Delight is not a real ice cream shop. I was debating between Ben and Jerry's and Baskin' Robbin's, but I decided I didn't want to advertise.

A/N (3): It's December! Which means it's the holiday season. I don't have a religion, but I respect the ones who do. So Happy Holidays! Consider this as my gift to you. Huh. Maybe I should have waited to publish this.

* * *

Epilogue

_**One Week Later**_

_New York, Frozen Delight- 02:00 p.m._

"So this is your idea of a first date?"

"Well, our first official date was more than six years ago, in the dream. Our first unofficial date was earlier than that. And if you counted the dances we've been to together…"

"Well, you took another girl to the first dance, and the second was interrupted."

"I decided we should start out slow. Especially after what happened."

"I understand, Jake. You needed time to cool down after everything."

Jake and Rose were on their first date after six years of being apart. They were at an ice cream shoppe, enjoying their frozen treats. It had been a week since the thousand year toast. They had decided not to give Sun a funeral, but to just remember her. Sun wouldn't have appreciated the sadness there, and neither would have Spud.

Because of the reporters, most of the world knew about magical creatures. A lot of the humans were in shock, but Kara Oracle predicted that soon, after some time, humans and magical creatures would live in harmony. Jake was afraid that the humans would be afraid of the magical creatures and the Hutnsclan. Of course, the humans also knew of Jake's human identity. Hopefully that would allow the mortals to see that magical creatures were people as well. They were lucky, at the moment, the no one recognized them when they walked in the store.

As for the Huntsclan, they would work alongside the magical creatures to protect both worlds if the magical creatures ever came back. They would stay by and train for the centuries. Anyone could train to become a member of the Huntsclan, once proven that they would not betray the group of, not slayers anymore, but hunters. The current Huntsmen, like everyone else, had to adjust to the changes in the world.

The door to the shop opened, and Trixie walked in. "Hi there, Rosie. Jakey."

"Hey Trix," responded Jake and Rose simultaneously.

"Did you know that less than a month has passed since you were first kidnapped, Jake?" asked Trixie.

"Wow." Jake blinked. "I hadn't even noticed. It felt like a year."

"So, Rose. You going to UNY with us?"

"Damn! College! I haven't even considered it, being in the Huntsclan! I didn't even think about it. Do they have any spots left in the University of New York?"

"Dunno, but you better hurry! It's almost the end of July."

"Jake, how's the magical community holding up?"

"What's with all the questions, Trixie? The magical community is pretty much fine. Speaking of which, I wonder who they assigned to be Haley's new dragon master."

_Draco Island- 02:15 p.m._

"Fred Nerk, you are officially reappointed as the Australian dragon."

"Sweet! I mean, thank you, councillors."

"I'm sure you know that the title also comes with responsibility," continued Councillor Kulkulkan.

Nerk nodded.

"So it is your responsibility, in addition to protection Australia, especially Melbourne, your city, you will have to train a younger dragon. You will be her dragon master."

_What? _thought Nerk, _I have to _train_ a kid dragon?_

As if reading his thoughts, Omina spoke, "I believe she is someone you already know. She should be here any second now." She looked at her watch.

On cue, Haley ran in and tripped over the threshold. "Sorry I'm late, councillors." She glanced around. "Fred Nerk, what are you doing here?"

"He's here because we reappointed him as the Australian dragon. He will be your new dragon master."

"Cool!" exclaimed Nerk and Haley at the same time. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"I believe this is all," concluded Andam. He smiled warmly. "We'll let you get acquainted with each other."

Haley grinned as she walked out the door with Nerk. "So, do I call you 'Fred' or 'Nerk'? 'Cause Jake calls you 'Nerk', but I'm not accustomed to adressing people by their last names without a title like 'Mister' or 'Miss' in front of it. No one else calls you 'Fred', though-"

Nerk cut Haley off, "You can call me whatever you like. Even Bob. If you want to."

Haley giggled.

_Ghana, Africa- Prehistoric Times_

Spud groaned, "Where the heck am I?" He looked at his handy device which could show the molecular structure of a particular universe. "Whew. I'm still in the same universe." He _was_, after all, a genius. Even though he was still his clumsy self.

_As for time_, he thought. Spud looked around him. Suddenly, a large pterodactyl- like creature swooped down on him. _Looks like I'm in prehistoric times_.

He then wanted looked at his GPS. A while after he and Stacey were dating, he replaced his Stacey Tracker™ with a Global Positioning Unit. He was in Africa. Or, more specifically, 5°33′N 0°15′W. He was in Accra, Ghana. Or, at least, where Ghana was _going_ to be. After all, if this was prehistoric times, Pangaea would not have happened yet.

A group of people dressed in typical caveman clothing came bounding up to him. _Maybe science was wrong about cave people not living in the same era as dinosaurs_.

"Hiya," said the youngest girl, "My name is Ug. My family is Ithidanis, Hertahaienu, and Szirochi."

"I'm Spud," Spud introduced himself. He decided that 'Arthur P. Spudinski' was to sophisticated for this era. "Um, I kind of lost my family uh, clan, while, uh, travelling." He pretty much knew how cave people survived.

"Why don't you come live with us?" suggested Szirochi, "your family would want you to."

Spud smiled. His family and friends _would_ want him to live a good life, wherever he was. Maybe he could have a surrogate family with these, though simplistic and primitive, people who obviously cared.

Spud nodded, and prodded on. Nobody noticed that he dropped two futuristic machines as he travelled on with them.

_New York, Central Park- 03:20 p.m._

The dragon and the Huntress were taking a stroll in Central Park.

"Remember the last time we saw each other before… all this?" Rose reminisced wistfully.

"During the Homecoming Dance?"

"No, after that. In the dream, I told you I would stay in the Huntsclan because they were threatening my parents."

"I remember. Now that I think of it, I realize that it was blackmail."

"Yeah. I still haven't met them yet."

"Well, don't worry, Rose. I'll help you locate them. Then you'll have a family again."

"But that's just it! I've survived all these years without parents. Even though the Huntsmaster was sort of a paternal figure, he was more of the abusive type of father."

"What are you insinuating?" Jake wanted to know.

"You, your family, Trixie, and," Rose winced as she said this, "Spud were my family. Even some people in the Huntsclan were my family. We always comforted each other, and gave each other support when we needed to. I'm just saying that if I met my biological family at the moment, I wouldn't act as sentimental toward them as I do you guys. Because I haven't spent much time with them.

"I don't want to go live with them. I'm nineteen years old, soon to be twenty! They're not the family I grew to love, Jake. But I still want to protect them. Because they brought me into this world, and that's important to me. I'm grown up and independent now, though, Jake. I don't need, or want, for that matter, my biological parents behind me. I don't want to burden them with that, because they barely know me. Besides, if I went to them at this time, it would hurt too much."

"I understand, Rose. I don't think I can relate, but I understand," said Jake quietly. He pulled his girlfriend into a hug. She returned it, knowing Jake would always be there for her.

_New York, Long Resistance- 04:00 p.m._

"Are you sure you're okay with us being magical creatures, dad?" asked Jake.

"I'll get over the shock in, oh, five years," joked Jonathan, "oh, and you'll have to be careful when you go out. There'll be resentment, adoring fans, and people who don't care. You have to be sure which is which, now that you're famous."

"More like infamous," replied Jake. "Hey, dad. Colonel Carter's going to fly Trixie over to Great Britain to see Nigel. Nerk's flying himself, and Rose is going with her teleporter. The cheerleaders are going with Brad on his private jet to crash the party, and Danica Hunnicutt is probably going with them. You mind if I join the get-together?"

"Of course not, Jakers! Go ahead! Besides, you're almost twenty, there's not much I can do to stop you. But you're really going to fly there? How long will it take?"

"It won't take that long. I'll be fine. Thanks," Jake grinned. "Bye." Jake turned into his dragon form and took off.

* * *

A/N (4): These are the things I felt like including in the story but didn't:  
A Nerk/Nigel SLASH pairing- I didn't include it because it was rated K+ in the last chapter. I finally got around to changing the rating to T, for Jake asking Rose out and all that.  
Spud's death- I didn't do that because I already killed Sun.  
Some fan coming up to Jake and asking for his autograph- I didn't do that because I have enough OC's.  
Rose meeting her family- The story would have become too long.  
Last words on the Hong Kong News station in the Epilogue- I didn't have any inspiration.  
I didn't want any OC's, but I guess I failed at that. Good thing they're not Mary Sues/Gary Stus.  
A moment between Jake's mom and 88 and 89- I don't know why I excluded that.  
Specific mentions of each of the other magical creatures in Chapter 10 (Battle)- I got too lazy to incorporate them in the story.  
Specific mentions of Jake's contacts- I got too lazy to recall them all, so I stuck with Nigel, Nerk, and Jasmine.  
A Spud/Trixie/Jake friendship scene- I don't know why I excluded that.  
I also wanted the story to have at least 40 000 words, but at least I made the 38 000 mark!

A/N (5): Aww. Such a sappy ending. I guess there's not much to say but… review! I know you've heard this a thousand times, but seeing as this is the last installment of Jake in the Huntsclan, I think I deserve a little feedback. I think the Epilogue wraps up everything… at least all the loose ends…  
In other words, it was fun to write this. I don't think I'll put up a sequel; I don't think I have the inspiration to do so. But if you want to write a continuation of my story, by all means, go ahead!  
~Dee


End file.
